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!
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.
The show also suffers from way too many time jumps that are mostly unnecessary. I don't know why so many shows feel the need to do so many timejumps. This is a murder mystery. A few flashbacks might be needed but overall, tell the story in a linear fashion! It makes a light show unnecessarily complicated because you have to pay more attention than you should on a show like this. The constant flips around to different times on the cruise ships and to years earlier stopped any momentum the show had dead in its tracks so many times. If I didn't like so many actors in this show, I might tap out but I probably will see it through. It's not going to be a show I review weekly but I'm sure I'll touch on it as the season continues.
The fifth season finale of Fargo ended this past week and SPOILERS AHEAD for those who have not seen the finale. I looped Fargo in with For All Mankind and The Curse in my mind because they were the three current shows I was watching during the December and early January doldrums. But unlike those other shows, Fargo ended its season in a very satisfying way. I was shocked at how quickly into the episode they resolved a lot of the dangling threads. The episode clearly had a lot they wanted to say about debt and they saved that to be part of an extended epilogue taking place one year later.
But before that, it was back to the Tillman Ranch. It had the same intensity as the previous episode but pretty soon it was clear that the major action was reserved for the previous episode. This episode did a lot of setup for a pretty anticlimactic end to Roy Tillman's reign of terror but I think that was intentional. He suddenly seemed very small and powerless crawling out of that tunnel and it was satisfying to see him have to pay for his crimes (and then some, thanks to Lorraine). The show seemed to work extra hard at redeeming Gator and Lorraine, maybe too hard. I don't think they really succeeded with Gator, maybe a bit more with Lorraine but I will say I'm not the show always knew how to incorporate Jennifer Jason Leigh's larger than life performance. But they still had some strong moments. And I was really sad that Lamorne Morris' Witt Farr did not make it but Fargo has never been that sentimental about its characters.
That last statement is what made the epilogue so interesting. The show wrapped things up with so many characters so after it flashed forward a year and we were left with just Dot and her family (thank God Wayne survived!) But there was one major character that hadn't seen his story resolve: Ole Munch, who suddenly was in the Lyon living room. Fargo made a choice to keep it quiet and simplistic as Dot taught Munch about forgiveness and a thoughtful Munch took it all in. There were a couple times that Fargo seemed to want to beat us over the head with their thoughts on debt and forgiveness and this was one of those times. But it was a thoughtful and quiet way to end the season. Overall, despite a midseason dip, I thought this was an excellent season. I think the penultimate episode was especially strong but the finale worked well as a complementary piece. I hope this show is remembered come Emmy time. What a rebound from the fourth season.
The second episode of True Detective: Night Country took us deeper into the case and the lives of the characters and the small town. I think one of the most unique aspects is the darkness all day. I know that's been done in other films and shows but not much that I've watched so it's jarring to see a restaurant serving lunch or kids attending school at what seems like night. I think the show this reminds me of most is Mare of Easttown where I did care about the case but the show did a better job of letting us get to know the characters.
Jodie Foster remained exceptionally strong in the second episode. She really brings such a presence to the series. I think the gulf is widening though between her and Kali Reis. I found myself not all that interested in the scenes with Reis and then sitting up and paying attention more when Foster was on camera. I think the case itself moved a little slower than I would have wanted for the second of six episodes but I also think the show has done such a nice job of world building that I have faith the case will be integrated well or ultimately not matter all that much.
I'll keep this short since the Emmys were almost a week ago now. I thought the ceremony was pretty effective. Anthony Anderson was a solid host, the TV reunions were fun (even if a few bits fell flat) and the show ended on time. All good things! I could have done without the following through of Anthony Anderson's mom cutting off speeches especially when it interrupted Jennifer Coolidge's speech. But that's a minor quibble to an otherwise pretty solid ceremony.
As far as the winners, count me among those who think The Bear is misplaced. Some of us have been saying that for a long time so it was nice to see more people feel that way after all its wins. It was a little boring that the wins were not spread out at all and pretty limited to Succession, The Bear and The White Lotus but it's hard to really argue with a lot of the winners. I was nearly perfect on my predictions. These sweeps could be seen a mile away. Next year's ceremony should be interesting with so many shows ended or not making eligibility so maybe we'll avoid another big sweep year. My favorite win was, of course, Kieran Culkin who finally got his deserved Emmy for his incredible performance on Succession. It was nice to see Sarah Snook finally get a win too.
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
It's a quiet beginning to the week with no premieres today, tomorrow or Wednesday. But then things get busy towards the end of the week with three high profile limited series. On Thursday, Netflix launches Sofia Vergara's limited series Griselda, about real-life figure Griselda Blanco and the Miami drug empire. Friday has the premiere of Expats, a Prime Video series based on the 2016 novel The Expatriates and set in Japan. Maybe the most high profile though is Apple TV+'s Masters of the Air, a long-awaited series that is the sequel of sorts to HBO's acclaimed Band of Brothers and The Pacific from over a decade ago. The World War II epic could be a major awards player. Elsewhere, Netflix also has the Thursday premiere of Masters of the Universe: Revolution, a sequel to Masters of the Universe: Revelation and on Friday, Starz has the third and final season premiere of Hightown.
THOUGHT TO END TODAY
I might be one of the only people in America watching Chad on the Roku Channel but I sought out the long-delayed second season (originally slated for TBS) because I really enjoyed the first season. The second season is more of the same. It's a lot of fun though I think it's a little more inconsistent than the first season. But the strength is once again Nasim Pedrad, who has just fully committed to Chad's character and is a riot. I doubt this show gets a third season and that's ok but it's been a fun little show.
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