BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: April 22, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Under the Bridge and Dinner with the Parents plus giving thoughts on the Emmy race for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. I also have a few thoughts on Palm Royale and Manhunt!

UNDER THE BRIDGE

Hulu premiered the first two episodes of their murder mystery series Under the Bridge last week and although it follows most standard murder mystery tropes, it does them well and creates a solid mystery through the first pair of episodes. The Canadian-set drama was not immune to some eyeroll moments. Like nearly every TV limited series whodunit, the series splits time between getting to know the victim before the murder and the murder investigation. It has a standard opening for the shows with a melodramatic voiceover and darkness that then leads into a much happier time months earlier.

The show shines at times though thanks to its very strong cast. That includes Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone, who play former friends now coming at this murder from very different angles. It also includes Archie Panjabi, who is in a different type of role for her as the mother of the victim. But those three awards-baity actresses don't have the best moments in the first two episodes. That belongs to a group of teenage characters who are a bit like a very dark re-imagining of Mean Girls. At least through two episodes, the story seems to propel forward much quicker when it's focused on those characters and not on the adult ones, whose stories were hit and miss in the first two episodes despite the solid performances.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: April 15, 2024

Welcome to a busy Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at new shows The Sympathizer, Franklin and Fallout as well as more of Ripley and my Emmys Preview for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Plus I have a few thoughts on the latest episodes of The Girls on the Bus and Sugar. Enjoy!

THE SYMPATHIZER

HBO's newest Sunday night entry is The Sympathizer, which premiered last night. Based on the 2015 debut, Pulitzer Price-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, the series is centered on a man named The Captain who is a spy for the Viet Cong of North Vietnam while being part of the South Vietnam army. The series is notable for featuring recent Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. in a wide variety of roles, all mostly white antagonists. 

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the first episode but there was definitely enough I liked to make me keep going. I often rail against shows for hopping time periods too much but in this show, it seems to be a feature not a bug. The show has a frenetic pacing and seems to enjoy aggressively jumping back and forth in time. I'm also not quite sure what to make of the Robert Downey Jr. factor of it all. In the first episode, he only played one character of the many he is supposedly playing so it felt a little more like a regular supporting performance than something unique but I'll reserve judgment until I see him in other roles. But Downey is, of course, a rock solid actor.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: April 8, 2024

Welcome to my Monday Newsletter! This week, I am looking at Ripley and Sugar and kicking off my Emmys Preview with the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series race. Plus, I have some thoughts on Loot, Palm Royale, The Girls on the Bus and more!

RIPLEY

I've watched half of the season of Ripley, which dropped all eight episodes on Netflix last Thursday after a long and torturous road to getting on the air. The project was announced for Showtime way back in Fall 2019. Filming in Italy was delayed due to COVID and then after the series had been filmed, Netflix ended up picking up the show from Showtime as the premium channel's priorities changed. The show doesn't really feel like a current era Showtime show but it also doesn't really feel like a Netflix show.

I don't really care where it fits though because I really enjoyed the four episodes I watched and can't wait to watch the rest of the series. The series, which is set in the 1960s and mostly in Italy, is famously shot completely in black and white and it is STUNNING. It is one of the best looking series I have seen in a long time and the black and white filming, which might feel like a gimmick in lesser hands, is the perfect choice for the type of story the show wants to tell. The show was a little slow moving at first (the second episode was my least favorite of the four) but once the plot got going in the third episode, it really put it all together. Before that, it was coasting a bit on vibes but the vibes were so good, I hardly cared.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: April 1, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! Today I am looking at Hulu's We Were the Lucky Ones, the latest episodes of Palm Royale and The Girls on the Bus and more!

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

We Were the Lucky Ones is a new Hulu limited series that premiered this past week with the first three episodes. Based on the novel of the same name, it tells the harrowing tale of a Polish Jewish family ripped apart by the Holocaust and scattered in many different directions.

I watched the first three episodes and was definitely intrigued by some of it even if has a bit of a "paint by numbers" feel to the way so many limited series are produced these days. Still, it's a story worth telling and there are some interesting performances, most notably from Joey King. She really steals the show here and I found her scenes to be by far the most interesting of the first three episodes (her travel to the border in the second episode was both intense and surprisingly funny at times). King has struck the right balance for a show that can be this heavy with its subject matter.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: March 25, 2024

Welcome to my Monday Newsletter! Today I am looking at Palm Royale and 3 Body Problem plus the latest episodes of The Girls on the Bus, Manhunt and more!

PALM ROYALE

Apple TV+ debuted its star-studded satire Palm Royale this past week and the response from critics has been decidedly mixed to negative. I would say I lean more on the positive side on this one. Of the three episodes that premiered, I thought the first and third worked well and the second one didn't as much. The story is set in 1969 and centers on Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig) trying to break into Palm Beach high society, littered with snooty women played by the likes of Allison Janney, Leslie Bibb, Julia Duffy and more. 

The show is very visually strong from its stylish credits to its candy-coated fashion. There's definitely some Desperate Housewives vibes from a Mrs. Maisel era. The first episode was primarily a two-hander between Wiig and Bibb but they were both pretty strong throughout. Kristen Wiig is fully committed to making this show and her character work even when they really shouldn't. I was pretty good with the tone, which I thought was pretty consistent through the first three episodes. I do worry it will be too much of the same thing (a comedic type of Revenge with Wiig trying to infiltrate in different ways) but it also felt sort of episodic by the time we got to the third episode, which is a good thing.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: March 18, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week I am looking at recent premieres Manhunt, The Girls on the Bus and Apples Never Fall!

MANHUNT

I checked out the first two episodes of Apple TV+'s Manhunt, a series about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. There were some things I really liked about the show and I definitely plan to keep watching but it suffers a bit from the things that plague so many Apple TV+ shows: it is a beautiful production design wrapped around a show that's lacking a heart and a soul. The period work here is great and meticulous, but the depth of so many shows on the streamer is just lacking. It reminded me a bit of The New Look in that way though Manhunt is stronger than that show.

NO NEWSLETTER THIS WEEK!

No Monday newsletter this week. Between some busy things going on for me and not much in terms of current shows I'm watching, it was a quiet week so I won't have a newsletter today. It will return next Monday though with a look at several shows premiering this week!

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: March 4, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am looking at new series The Regime, Elsbeth and Shogun!

THE REGIME

I don't know if this is sort of an expectations game but I didn't have high hopes for The Regime after seeing some mixed to negative reviews in the last couple days. But then I think this show exceeded my expectations, at least by a little bit. I agree with the consensus that Kate Winslet is far and away the best part of this show. The acclaimed actress, last seen on TV in HBO's gripping Mare of Easttown, is fully committed to this role and she gives the show more gravitas than it probably deserves. The supporting cast isn't developed all that much in the first episode aside from Matthias Schoenaerts, who is solid but not doing anything special like Winslet.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: February 26, 2024

Welcome to a pretty short newsletter. This week, I am looking at the new season of Will Trent, the latest episode of Abbott Elementary and the end of Mr. & Mrs. Smith along with thoughts on Expats, some recent renewals and the SAG Awards!

WILL TRENT SEASON 2

I didn't stick with Will Trent in its first season even though I liked the couple episodes I watched. But I felt like it continued to get decent buzz by broadcast TV standards so I gave it another shot as Season Two kicked off. I'm not sure if there's a better chance of me sticking around long-term but I do think it's a pretty good example of the show it's trying to be. I think by broadcast procedural standards, it's quite solid. It has some quirky characters and styles and does just enough things well and different to be a cut above some of the more bland network entries.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: February 19, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Apple TV+'s new drama The New Look, the season finale of True Detective: Night Country, the latest episode of Abbott Elementary and more!

THE NEW LOOK

For the first ten years on this blog, I mostly focused on broadcast shows. I watched a few cable and streaming shows but I watched broadcast with regularity. Over time, I started to have less patience for the shows that were doing something I'd see hundreds of times. Things like generic procedural dramas became less and less interesting unless they really offered something different. And I sometimes looked back at the shows I liked in the beginning of my blog days and thought "I can't believe how much I liked [any number of early 2010s procedural]" as my tastes evolved and sharpened.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: February 12, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. Today, I am looking at the third season premiere of Abbott Elementary, the latest episodes of True Detective: Night Country and Feud: Capote vs. the Swans and more!

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY "Career Day" (Season Premiere)

Abbott Elementary returned for its third season in fine form with a double episode focused on "Career Day" and picking up midway through the school year. While the real reason was the writer's strike of course, the show chose to not do the beginning of the school year and keep it in the real time of the school calendar. That allowed the show to make some narrative choices that I think have set up the third season well. Janine is now working for the district and the show used flashbacks to give us a brief look at how things have evolved between Gregory and Janine since the second season finale. There was also a very clever explanation of why the camera crew has been absent with a cold open that featured the most direct references to the crew.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: February 5, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am looking at Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, the latest episode of True Detective: Night Country and more!

MR. & MRS. SMITH

For the last couple years, my most highly anticipated new show of the year turned out to be a disappointment (The First Lady in 2022, Dear Edward in 2023). So between that track record and the fact that Prime Video had a late embargo and a binge model, I was very worried that my #1 for 2024, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, would follow in those footsteps. Well, I'm happy to report that not only did Mr. & Mrs. Smith not disappoint, I would say it actually exceeded expectations.

I've watched three episodes of the eight so far and the closest comparison I can make is Poker Face in the sense that it's a throwback case of the week feel but with the gloss and money of a prestige TV show. I really don't mind self-contained shows. TV has been thriving on that model for decades. The problem with so many broadcast shows nowadays is that they are so unambitious with low production values that it really doesn't feel worth my time. What both Poker Face and Mr. and Mrs. Smith did is put some gloss (high production values, great guest stars) on a tried and true TV formula and the results are episodes that are endlessly enjoyable because they're familiar in the best sense of the word. These are shows that could run for years or a decade even though they probably won't.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: January 29, 2024

Welcome to my Monday Newsletter. This week, I am looking at the new limited series Expats, Masters of the Air and Griselda, the latest episode of True Detective: Night Country and more!

EXPATS

There were three big premieres this past week but none of them were super exciting to me personally. The one I enjoyed most though was Expats, a Prime Video limited series based on the 2016 novel The Expatriates. The series, set in an expatriate community in Hong Kong, follows the interconnected lives of three women (Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue, & Ji-young Yoo). 

The first two episodes were not perfect by any means but they interested me enough to definitely keep watching. I was frustrated in the first episode when the characters just kept talking around an event that was meant to be a secret from the audience. This isn't some mystery box show, I don't think it needed to keep what happened a secret until nearly the end of the second episode. And the very obvious vagueness in dialogue to keep the actual event a secret got irritating after awhile. It was wholly unnecessary. Obviously something happened to Kidman's son, obviously it had to do with Yoo's character. Why the need to keep it such a secret? I also wasn't convinced that a series that only has six episodes needed to spend an entire episode in a flashback. 

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: January 22, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! Today I am looking at Death and Other Details, the season finale of Fargo, the latest episode of True Detective: Night Country, the Emmys and more!

DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS

There's a whole lot of murder mysteries premiering in January on TV. One of the ones that interested me most going in was Death and Other Details, a dramedy set aboard a luxury cruise ship. After watching the first two episodes, which premiered on Hulu this past Tuesday, I'm still somewhat intrigued but my enthusiasm was dampened somewhat by two uneven episodes to kick off the series.

There's a strong cast here led by the Violett Beane and the great Mandy Patinkin along with strong supporting actors such as Jayne Atkinson and Jere Burns. When I put this show on my Most Anticipated list, I drew comparisons to The White Lotus because it's a murder mystery in a luxurious setting. But this certainly doesn't aim as high as Lotus and yet it takes itself more seriously. There's some odd tonal issues in the first two episodes. Sometimes it seems to want to be a super fun, unserious murder mystery. Other times, it seems to want to explore trauma and deeper issues. The former is much more enjoyable than the latter.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: January 15, 2024

Happy Emmys Day! This week's Newsletter includes a review of True Detective: Night Country, a preview of the Drama categories at the Emmys, thoughts on the season finales of For All Mankind and The Curse, the latest episode of Fargo and more!

TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY

I actually haven't watched any of the True Detective seasons. It's always been on my list but as the reaction to the second and third season was more muted, I just never got around to it. So I can't comment at all on how the fourth installment, Night Country, compares to previous seasons. But I thought the first episode of Night Country was strong and I look forward to watching the rest of the season. The first episode does a great job with mood setting. It starts on the last day of daylight in Northern Alaska and then continues when Alaska is dark 24 hours a day (hence the "Night Country"). The feel of constant night seems to be a major part of this season given the name but it also helps tremendously with mood-setting.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: January 8, 2024

Welcome to my weekly newsletter! This week I am looking at the Emmy race in the comedy categories as well as the latest episodes of Fargo, For All Mankind, The Curse and more!

EMMYS COMEDY PREVIEW

Last week, I looked at the Limited Series races for the upcoming Emmys (January 15). Here are my predictions & wishes in the main comedy categories!

Outstanding Comedy Series

Will Win: The Bear

Should Win: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Should Have Been Nominated: Poker Face

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Will/Should Win: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Should Have Been Nominated: Drew Tarver, The Other Two

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Will Win: Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Should Win: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Should Have Been Nominated: Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: January 1, 2024

Happy New Year! In a very busy newsletter today, I am looking at my most anticipated shows for 2024, the Limited Series race at the upcoming Emmys, For All Mankind, The Curse, The Crown, Fargo, Dr. Death and more!

MY TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED SHOWS OF 2024

As we begin 2024, there should be no shortage of TV with the strikes resolved. We may not get back to pre-strike Peak TV but there will be plenty to watch. Here are my Top 10 Most Anticipated Shows of 2024. To be considered for this list, it had to be new or an anthology. So even though I can't wait for a returning show like Abbott Elementary in February, I did not include it on this list. 

Honorable Mentions: Ripley (Netflix, TBD), Griselda (Netflix, Jan 25), The Penguin (Max, TBD), Apples Never Fall (Peacock, March), Shogun (FX/Hulu, Feb 27), Sugar (Apple TV+, TBD)

10. Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (Disney+, TBD) - I have enjoyed exactly one Marvel show in the history of Marvel TV shows and that was WandaVision. Some of it was the TV spoofing they were doing. But it was also Kathryn Hahn's portrayal of Agatha. So a spinoff starring Hahn will at least get me to tune in.

9. Death and Other Details (Hulu, January 16) - A murder mystery set in an exotic location certainly gives off The White Lotus vibes. While I would never expect this one to be as good, it has a great cast led by Mandy Patinkin that gives me hope.

8. Masters of the Air (Apple TV+, January 26) - In general, I am not a huge fan of military dramas. But this looks to be sparing no expense and it's set in a time period that I find more interesting than modern day military dramas. So I'm definitely going in with a hopeful and open mind.