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 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.
Although it seems likely that Janine will return to the classroom at some point, this story about her joining the district team is a perfect example of how a broadcast show can make some moves like this and spend some time down a different path because they have the time and episodes. A streaming show struggles to let their shows breathe with limited episode orders. I think this is more noticeable with comedies than dramas. Comedies are all about being familiar with characters and being able to take them on different journeys and the network model works so much better for that.
The entire cast was strong as always with Josh Segarra being a fun addition as a recurring character. I thought Janelle James was in top form. She was a frequent scene stealer in the first season but I thought she ran a little hot and cold last season. Maybe that will be the case this season too but she was excellent in the premiere. Her moment in the Gym was the "real Ava" came back was some expert comedic timing. I do think the bit with Jalen Hurts and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates went on a bit too long but that's a minor gripe. I'm happy to have Abbott back!
The penultimate episode of True Detective: Night Country stepped away from the horror elements of the fourth episode and seemed to get back to a lot of detective work but it still ended with a bang, literally, to head into the finale next week. Spoilers ahead for those who haven't watched yet.
I've read or listened to several people complain that this season of True Detective is only six episodes and it feels like that was not a choice of creator Issa Lopez. This was the first episode where I really felt that. We're barreling towards the finale and all of the sudden, things seem pretty rushed. The show did a magnificent job of world-setting and getting to know a lot of the characters but now that we have to get to a resolution, it feels a little bit like too much is happening too fast. The strongest example of that comes at the end of the episode when Captain Hank Prior is shot dead by his son, Officer Pete Prior. That's supposed to be a shocking and devastating moment and yet, I felt like we hadn't spent enough time with either character and especially with their relationship for it to pack the punch it was supposed to deliver. The fifth episode had a lot of the relationship, probably to tee up the finale, but I would have preferred to see more of it all season for it to have the desired effect.
All that being said, there were still a lot of good things. I continue to think Jodie Foster is far and away the best thing about this season. I'm still up and down with Kali Reis but I certainly care more about her character than I did at the beginning of the season. I also continue to be so impressed with the visuals of this season and how every little details serves to create the town of Ennis, Alaska. It was a solid episode but I just feel like this season deserved another two episodes.
This week's episode of Feud really bothered me. The episode was based on a real life documentary done on Truman Capote leading up to his famous masquerade Black and White Ball. The episode was almost entirely in black and white. The problem was the show was clearly trying to show the documentary but then made so many choices that reflected modern day documentary filming. With the quick zooms and the shaky camera and the odd angles, I felt like I was watching an episode of The Office. I watched some of the actual documentary on YouTube and it was nothing like that. Now I'm all for creative freedom and not having to re-create the original, but this was so out of place and contemporary-feeling that it was distracting. Watching a bit of the original documentary though, I am even more impressed with Tom Hollander's performance. It is surprising though that a show subtitled "Capote vs. the Swans" that there has been so much more Capote than the Swans.
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
This week has a ton of scripted premieres thanks to CBS's "Premiere Week" that is happening following the network's airing of the Super Bowl. CBS is the only network to really have a traditional Premiere Week (albeit in February) is this very non-traditional season. Monday has The Neighborhood, the final season of Bob Hearts Abishola, NCIS and NCIS: Hawaii. Tuesday has the FBI trio. Thursday has the final season of Young Sheldon followed by Ghosts and So Help Me Todd. Friday has the final season of S.W.A.T. as well as Fire Country and Blue Bloods (which will air half of its final season this spring and half in the fall). Finally, Sunday has The Equalizer and CSI: Vegas sandwiching the time slot premiere of Tracker following its post-Super Bowl premiere. Among non CBS shows, Wednesday has the premiere of Apple TV+'s The New Look, focusing on the rise of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. The series doesn't seem to have a ton of buzz and has a late embargo so we don't know what critics think yet. Wednesday also has the third season premiere of Resident Alien on Syfy. Friday has the second season premiere of Love & Beth on Hulu. Both shows have their fans but aren't really mainstream shows.
ODDS & ENDS
- I sampled one episode of One Day. I think there were some things to like about it but not enough for me to think "I want to watch 14 episodes of this." I think the lead performances from Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod are very likable. It just felt very slight. I also have never been a fan of the binge drop in general. I like the conversation around shows as they continue and I think that's why I have a hard time connecting to so many Netflix shows. I like to take some time with shows and if I did that with this show, I'd be finishing it well after the conversation is over.
- I also watched a little bit of Tracker after the Super Bowl but I have even less to say about it than I did about One Day. It's a standard CBS show. There's nothing horrible about it but it's also nothing I ever need to watch again. Justin Hartley is likable in the lead role, the production values are on par with an average broadcast procedural. It's all just fine. I won't be watching again but I'm sure some of the CBS crowd will love it.
- I'm still making my way through Mr. and Mrs. Smith and loving it. Truthfully, I am in no rush to finish it partly because I'm enjoying it so much and want to savor it. The guest stars are just fantastic but they still take a backseat to the really wonderful lead performances from Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. The show is really an interesting blend of action/spy thriller and cute rom-com. It's a vibe that is completely working for me.
- There was quite a bit of news from TCA this past week with a lot of premiere dates given out from Apple TV+, Hulu and FX. There's going to be so many big shows coming in March and April (there's a particular glut on March 14 for some reason). The limited series race for the Emmys looks to be exceptionally tough with Apple TV+ just pummeling the release calendar with limited series. It will be a busy Spring for me because I'm interested in a lot of the shows coming in March and April.
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