Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Sirens plus the season finales of The Last of Us and The Studio and the latest episode of Hacks. I am also looking at the Emmy race for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and continuing my countdown of the Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #18!
SIRENS
Sirens is a new soapy limited series that seemed to Netflix's Memorial Day answer to Labor Day's The Perfect Couple. Based on a play, the series takes place at a beach resort owned by the powerful and somewhat mysterious couple Kiki and Peter Kell (Julianne Moore & Kevin Bacon). But the story is really about two sisters from Buffalo, Devon and Simone (Meghann Fahy & Milly Alcock) and the dynamics between them.
Let's start by saying this show is a complete mess. These soapy, "beach read' shows all seem to be trying to be the next The White Lotus, but none of them have Mike White's biting voice and satirical eye. So they end up being somewhere between too serious and absolutely absurd and rarely do they find the right line to walk down. This show had some serious tonal whiplash between mystery, comedy and drama and it didn't do any of the three genres particularly well. That being said, there are some strong performances. I wasn't a big fan of Julianne Moore but Meghann Fahy can just make anything work. After her breakout in the second season of The White Lotus, she has been doing fare like this and still shining in bad material. So I can't wait to see her pick another good project like Lotus. Milly Alcock had some strong moments as well.
This show was only five episodes and I have no behind the scenes knowledge but with the unusually low episode total, it made me wonder if there were problems behind the scenes that led to a six episode season being cut down to five. It certainly felt like there was messiness with how the show was put together. This was a big old miss but a bit worth watching because of Fahy.
Also...
I decided not to check out Motorheads or the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. I might have liked Motorheads but I just wasn't interested enough to commit to ten episodes. As for Strangers, I really didn't like the first season and by all accounts, this season is worse so I'm not gonna give it the time.
The Last of Us (Season Finale)
The second season of The Last of Us came to an end in what I imagine will be divisive among fans of the series. It ended on a major cliffhanger, and here's the issue. A cliffhanger to end a season was great back when shows would end in May and return in September. But when's the next time we'll see The Last of Us? Late 2026 or Early 2027 seems like a best-case scenario. And that's just too long to have a cliffhanger like this. Now I know that I could read about the game to find out where things are heading but that's besides the point. If we're going to get this big prestige shows only once every two years or so, then I don't want to be setting up the next season when we only have seven episodes before another two year break. TV has to adjust if we're going to take these long gaps between seasons. Before those final moments, there were some good things. The show did a masterful job of setting the scene in the ever rainy Seattle and there was a lot of tense moments (even if there were also some odd detours). Overall, I don't think the second season of The Last of Us worked as well as the first season, but there was still plenty to like. This wasn't a failure as a second season by any stretch of the imagination. It just felt like it had less of a complete story to tell, perhaps because it only ever planned to tell some of the second game.
The Studio (Season Finale)
The Studio's first season came to an end and it's been an interesting journey with this show for me. While others seem to like it more and more by the week, I found myself absolutely loving the first three episodes before I felt more up and down the rest of the way. I felt like there was some tonal whiplash with this show. Was it just a huge farce where every episode had a crisis that needed solving? Was it trying to say something a little bigger about the movie industry as a whole? Was it a character study or episodic mayhem? Was it about huge guest stars or building up the ensemble? The problem is it tried to be all those things at various points. And by the hyped Golden Globes episode and two part finale, it all just got a little tired for me even with some great moments and great guest stars, particularly Zoe Kravitz. I'm still excited about a second season of this show because there's enough things to like. I just think there's been some overpraising for a first season that feels more like a work in progress to me.
Hacks
I'm feeling so conflicted about what happened on this week's Hacks. I'm torn between thinking it's the best thing the show has done yet and thinking it may have jumped the shark. That's a wide gulf, I know. But I think both are true to an extent. The show zagged a bit from the normal dynamics when all signs pointed to Deborah bowing to network pressure and firing Ava as requested. But then she used the opportunity to call out the network live on air and subsequently ended her late night show. On the one hand, I feel like this newest turn could invigorate the show for the fifth season because a scrappy Deborah and Ava is always a good place to start a season from. On the other hand, none of the actions seem like Deborah as a character. In the four seasons we have known Deborah, would she ever be the type to have something profound to say about studios and where they are headed? Would she have the courage to give up her dream? I know the show wants us to believe the answer is yes, but I'm not so sure. It felt more like the Hacks writers wanting to say something about Hollywood and making Deborah their out-of-character mouthpiece for it. I'm glad there's not a new rift between Ava and Deborah but the actions from many characters in this episode, including Jimmy and Kayla, just stretched credulity a bit for me. The show has already done that with the late night show's improbable rise this season and now blowing it all up feels too much of a TV plot than anything else. And yet, I'm very excited to see where it goes from here and feel like it could ultimately be better for the show.
THE EMMY RACE for SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
As we move into the Comedy Series races, the big question for this season is, will this finally be Hannah Einbinder's year? The Hacks star may be category frauded but after the show won Series last year and Jean Smart has won three times, most people agree that this season is the best Einbinder has ever been and she might have enough juice to get over the hump this year. But she'll be competing against a pair of former winners and other formidable contenders. Liza Colon-Zayas won in this category last year even though many assumed it was actually rewarding her for a third season episode of The Bear where she was the star of the show. Now, she's actually up for the aforementioned season/episode but we'll see if voters feel like she already was rewarded. 2022 winner Sheryl Lee Ralph from Abbott Elementary remains in the mix as well, but I don't think she is win competitive. Her co-star Janelle James might be more of a threat as, like Einbinder, she has been a perennial nominee without a win and had a strong season. There's two other possible returning nominees in the mix. Jessica Williams was a bit of a surprise nominee for the first season of Shrinking two years ago and the show seems to have more momentum now so she stands a good chance of returning. Meryl Streep was nominated last year for Only Murders in the Building. She didn't have nearly as much to do this past season but you can't ever count out Meryl Streep. As far as new shows, Catherine O'Hara is a legend and a recent winner in Lead Actress for Schitt's Creek so don't be surprised at all if she turns up here for The Studio while Kathryn Hahn is definitely a possibility too. Patti LuPone had some buzz for Agatha All Along but I'd be a little surprised if she got in. Same for the late Linda Lavin, who could get a posthumous nomination for Mid-Century Modern but I don't see it happening. Although Hacks, The Bear and Abbott Elementary have been Emmy darlings, Meg Stalter, Abby Elliott and Lisa Ann Walter haven't been able to break in yet and I don't think this will be their year. A couple real dark horses if their shows overperform are Justine Lupe for Nobody Wants This and Kerri Kenney-Silver for The Four Seasons. Finally, it's hard to totally ignore the Saturday Night Live contenders though it's been a few years since SNL got anyone in. If they somehow pop back into this category, I'd watch for Chloe Fineman or Ego Nwodim.
Projected Nominees (ranked by likelihood of a nomination):
1. Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
2. Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear
3. Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
4. Catherine O'Hara, The Studio
5. Jessica Williams, Shrinking
6. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Just Missing:
7. Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
8. Kathryn Hahn, The Studio
9. Patti LuPone, Agatha All Along
#18 - PARENTHOOD (NBC, 2010-2015)
Before NBC had the Pearsons on This is Us, there were the Bravermans. I really loved watching Parenthood the first time through but it's never been a show I've revisited. It's one I definitely want to, especially now that I am a parent myself. But even before I was a parent, it was a deeply moving drama about family. Yes, the plots sometimes veered to the absurd because any possible issue that could happen to one family did. In lesser hands, it could easily have been a "check the box" soapy mess. But in the hands of Jason Katims and his team, it was heartfelt, charming, funny and - of course - tearjerking. It's hard to imagine such a large cast in a drama like this was on network TV just about a decade ago because the landscape has changed so much but I'm glad we had this show for as long as we did to see the Bravermans grow and change. Now I need to get to a re-watch!
COMING UP
This week marks the official end of the Emmy eligibility window, which means it's more about finales than premieres but there are a few premieres. On Tuesday, Prime Video has the second season premiere of The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy. The first season of the animated series didn't make much of an impression. On Wednesday, FX has the premiere of the comedy Adults. While the series will air weekly on FX, the entire season will be available on Hulu the day after the premiere. Thursday has the limited series The Better Sister on Prime Video, starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks. This show doesn't seem like it will be a late player. Also premiering Thursday is the third season of And Just Like That on Max.
Comments
Post a Comment