-One of the smartest decisions Riverdale ever made was making the principle industry of their town and the source of the Blossom's wealth and power maple syrup. If Riverdale was built on, say, oil or lumber, the Blossoms would still be interesting characters because of how ridiculous and over-the-top they are but they would feel slightly more generic, more run-of-the-mill evil rich people. Maple syrup though, is such an unlikely source of power that it gives the Blossoms a much needed specificity and adds some extra quirkiness to their sinister vibe. The idea that this dark and twisted family's claim to fame is a substance that's so sweet and overpowering just fits as does the increasingly growing possibility that all the murder and forbidden love and craziness on this show can be traced back to one man killing another over syrup.
-Archie lucks out this week and gets to be the star of the episode again. He even gets to learn some relevant plot information, lucky guy. It looks like the writers were challenging themselves to find a way to work Archie's desire to be a musician into a story that actually tied into the important plots of the show and their best solution was to put him in his own version of Indecent Proposal where instead of a million dollars, he gets help with his music. It's a story that's been told so many times that you probably guessed how it would play out right away, but it works because it allows us for another deep dive into the world of the Blossoms, which always works well for the show and it takes Cheryl's arc in a promising new direction.
-Cheryl Blossom was introduced to us as a simple chaos-driven antagonist, but the show and Madelaine Petsch quickly fleshed her out into more than that, created a fascinating, complex, tragic character trying to figure out how to cope with the loss of the only person who ever truly cared about her. La Grande Illusion doesn't show us anything really that we didn't already see in Heart of Darkness, but it does reinforce just how hard Cheryl really has it without Jason. Whether because of her gender, her tendency for drama, or her inability to be liked, no one on the Blossom Syrup board views her as stable or suitable enough to be heir for the Blossom Syrup company, not even her parents. She and her parents are all trying to turn Archie into Jason, but she's doing it because she genuinely likes Archie and her parents are doing it because they'd rather have him run the company than Cheryl. It's a hard truth for her to face but she tries to ignore it and push it away until Archie rejects her after they kiss. It's this rejection that puts her back on the path to being a chaos-driven antagonist as the season enters it's 3rd act, but the difference is now we can more fully identify with her and understand where her anger is coming from.
-La Grande Illusion is actually pretty smart in how it gets us so focused on Archie's moral dilemma about how far in bed to get with the Blossoms, we forget about the fact that Cheryl isn't part of her parents game until she blows up on him for using her to get what he wants. Archie's dilemma was never a dilemma. There's a difference between making a connection and having someone let you in before you earned your place (If the uptight New York guy doesn't like your music, the elite Music School People probably won't either, Archie!). He was always doing the wrong thing, even when he tried to get altruistic about it and help his dad out and Riverdale isn't afraid to call him on it. It's a good move that makes Archie more flawed and therefore, more interesting.
-Valerie breaking up with Archie for always ignoring her and never spending enough time with her felt like the writers coping to the fact that they didn't actually have space in the season to explore Archie dating Val outside of the episode where they got together. Which is a shame because Hayley Law is a delight in the role and hopefully we'll get to see more of her outside of the Josie scenes (Speaking of which, where has Josie disappeared to?). I am glad they didn't try to use that Archie/Cheryl kiss to motivate the Archie/Val break-up. Val had enough reason to break up with him when he downplayed her genuine concerns about him going to the dinner. She didn't need another reason.
-Archie accidentally stumbling on Penelope and Clifford talking about how Clifford should've sent Hermione to jail instead of Hiram was one of the most delightfully soap opera-ish moments on this show to date and I loved it so much.
-So Polly's dramatic decision to join the Blossom household last week turns out to be part of her plan to go undercover and figure out what really happened to Jason. It's a reveal that undercuts the tragedy of last week's ending somewhat but also makes a lot of sense with what we know of Polly. My question? If Polly didn't want Betty to worry about her, wouldn't it make more sense to just tell her her plan before she went to Thornhill? Yes, Betty might have tried to talk her out of it but she probably would come around to the idea quicker than she'd accept that her sister had abruptly abandoned her. It just feels like a silly way to create more drama for the show.
-Shannon Purser returns this week as Ethel Muggs and there's no wink-y Stranger Things joke this time, but we do get more of a character exploration for her. Ethel reads a pretty personal, dark poem in school and Veronica becomes concerned about her, deciding to befriend her to make amends for her bullying ways back when she lived in New York. It's a story that seems ripped out of a Very Special Archie at first, but it takes an intriguing turn when we find out that Ethel's family is having financial troubles because her dad invested with Hiram. Veronica has always had a loyalty to her father that's felt kind of naive, so it's interesting to watch the show dive into it and pull it apart until it finally breaks as she realizes that her dad has hurt people. Camila Mendes turns in a terrific performance as Veronica struggles to find some way to make amends for what Hiram has done only to realize she can't. Purser for her part mostly has to look sad and grieve, but she's able to put a lot of nuance and humanity into it, and the final passages of the plot where she's able to overlook Veronica's name and remain friends with her is both powerful and unexpectedly sweet for Riverdale.
-Apparently Hermione had forgotten that Fred could actually lose a lot being in business with the Lodges as once Veronica points out he could ends up with Ethel's dad, she finally decides to tell him that she's the mystery buyer he's working for (She tells him about Hiram hiring the thugs too for good measure). Fred reacts as one would when they find out their girlfriend has involved them in a criminal enterprise without telling them. The end sets up an interesting status quo going forward though as Fred breaks up with Hermione, but agrees to stay on the project for a 20% stake in it. After weeks of basically reacting to things, it's nice to see Fred finally take charge on something.
-So here's where the Ethel/Veronica plot confused me. Was Ethel unaware that Veronica was Veronica Lodge or was she just unaware of the specifics of what her father did? I was under the impression that everyone was aware of who Veronica was so I was confused why Ethel was so surprised at Veronica's confession.
-Betty, Alice, and Jughead are mostly on the side of the action this week, getting information about Polly and the Blossoms from Archie so Alice can write an expose and Betty can find out if her sister is OK. Alice gets a really effective arc though as her initial reversion to her old behaviour and her indifference towards Polly is quickly revealed to be a front for the amount of pain she feels from her daughter's rejection. Alice also began this season as a simple antagonist, but she finally comes over to the protagonist side tonight (for now at least) as mother, daughter, and daughter's aloof boyfriend start working in tandem to take down the Blossoms. It's a big leap from where she was even a few episodes ago but it feels earned and natural because the show has been quietly building towards it for weeks.
-I don't understand why Hal doesn't want to print the expose about the Blossoms. Yes, he's mad at his wife and has somehow fired her from the newspaper, even though she always seemed like she was the one running the show there. But why is he pretending he doesn't care about the Blossom family at all and this whole thing has been Alice's obsession? Did he forget about how just last week he was screaming about refusing to raise a child with Blossom blood? Or the family blood feud? Running this piece helps his agenda and it seems like a false note that he's not interested. I can forgive it though because the scene where Alice dramatically tosses a rock through the Register's window was easily the best part of the episode.
-So Alice is going to work for the high school newspaper now? Wasn't the reason Betty started the newspaper up again in the first place to get away from her mother's sensationalism? I know Betty has become more sympathetic to her mother's cause but does she really think that's going to change? Also how is the school OK with letting a non-faculty adult just work on a school newspaper? And does that newspaper even get put out? I was just under the impression that they used the office to stash their murder board. And don't even get me started on what Jughead implied about the paper having a large overhead budget (I'm really hoping that was supposed to be a joke).
-This Week in Dapper Archie: Nice suit Archiekins. It'd look even better with some dignity.
-If Archie was smart, he'd hang onto that guitar the Blossoms gave him but he's probably going to give it back out of some misplaced sense of nobility.
-The dark poem and fears of suicide in this episode reminded me of Netflix's new drama 13 Reasons why, which I watched this week. It's terrific and it features Riverdale's own Ross Butler (Reggie) in a supporting role that gives him a chance to actually show off his acting chops a bit. Hopefully the Riverdale writers also watched this, took note, and are beefing up Reggie's part for next season.
-Murder Theory Corner: It's getting pretty late in the season for someone not connected to the Coopers/Blossoms feud to be involved in killing Jason (Unless they're planning on dragging this out for season 2, which I really hope is not the case). Hiram probably didn't kill Jason, but could Hermione have? It's possible. Alice continues to look like a better and better suspect as well the less suspicious she becomes. It's even possible that Cheryl could've done it without realizing it. After all we know everyone thinks she's unstable. Maybe the one person she trusted to protect her let her down and she went to far? It's hard to say for sure at this point who the killer is, which makes for good TV.
-Next Week: Molly Ringwald!
Saturday, 8 April 2017
Saturday, 1 April 2017
Riverdale: Chapter Eight: The Outsiders
-OK, let's start this week with the big burning question on everyone's mind: why did Riverdale tiptoe around using the word abortion when discussing the appointment Hal offered to make for Polly (And the one he made for Alice way back when)? OK, maybe this isn't the big question on everyone's mind but I'm curious about it so we're starting with it. It couldn't have been a standards and practice thing. TV has gotten much more open about discussing abortion in recent years and two other CW shows did abortion stories earlier this year where they were very frank and open about it. It might've been an Archie Comics thing but if the company has no problem with the this dark, sexier take on Archie I can't imagine they'd object to the word abortion. So is it a story thing? Is it representative of the repression that the Coopers have all internalized? Are Alice and Hal are so obsessed with projecting a certain image that they can't even bring themselves to utter the word in privatw for fear of scandal? Probably. If this is what the writers are going for though, it's too bad the result is a couple key scenes of the episode feeling like they're from the 80s or 90s.
-Alright, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, let's get to the actual meat of the episode. Riverdale did something weird this week: they made Archie the focus of the big, flashy A-story and relegated the clash between the Coopers and the Blossoms to the B-story sidelines. Now technically In A Lonely Place did the same thing, but Jughead was definitely the lead character of that episode, while Archie was relegated to the sidelines. To contrast, The Outsiders puts Archie front and centre as he learns about his father's business woes and takes matters into his own hands in an effort to fix them. Why is this weird? Mostly because Archie is almost never the focal point of a Riverdale episode. He gets storylines and stuff but they're almost never supposed to be the most compelling part of the episode. Even the episode ostensibly about Archie's romance with Grundy was more of a Betty episode. This has been to the show's benefit because Archie is clearly the weakest character and his biggest character traits (Music! Good friend apparently!) doesn't translate to compelling A-stories. The Outsiders takes a gamble though by leaning on Archie's 3rd and 4th biggest character traits (Loves his dad! Does Not Think Things Through!) and it works pretty well. Archie's still not as compelling as the other characters and The Outsiders isn't as good as the past couple episodes but it's a solid outing.
-The main thrust of the episode revolves around Andrews Construction, which is undergoing problems thanks to Cliff Blossom stealing away the construction crew and random thugs trashing the equipment when Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Moose, and some rando jock come in as a replacement crew. Now the parts of this story that revolve around the land itself, whether from Cliff Blossom trying to stall out construction to get the land or Hermione trying to not tell Fred that Hiram owns the land are pretty dull because land contracts are pretty dull and it's never been clear why so many TV shows seems to think otherwise. The interesting stuff comes from Fred trying to hold the company he built together and Archie realizing for the first time how hard his dad has been working to keep them afloat. That's compelling stuff. The Andrews boys aren't the most interesting characters on the show by far but their bond and their relationship has developed this season in an interesting way as Archie begins to see his dad as more human and tries to start giving back to his dad a little. The care put into developing that relationship carries much of this portion of the episode and provides useful context to Archie's impulsive decision making.
-Of course, as much as Archie wants to help his dad, he's still a kid so a lot of his solutions involve getting into danger, trying to take justice into his own hands and yelling at Jughead for not mentioning that his dad was a Serpent without trying to consider Jughead's possible reasons for omitting this. Maybe the reason Archie is the most frustrating character on this show is because Archie is the one who acts the most like a normal, if a bit hotheaded teenager would in this situation, and a normal teenager would not be useful. It's all well-acted by K.J. Apa though who brings a lot to a thankless role and the reconciliation between Archie and Jughead at the end does a good job at folding in the theme of children protecting their parents. Seriously though Arch, learn to control that temper of yours before you get into real trouble.
-Can you really blame Jughead for not wanting to tell people that his dad was a Serpent? Of course not, unless you're Archie. Cole Sprouse does a really good job capturing how conflicted Jughead is in this episode, as he struggles between helping Archie out and not wanting to believe that his dad could've sunk so low. Of course, even without his dad being a member, Jughead is right about not jumping to conclusions about who the thugs were. He does seem a little too surprised when he's informed the Serpents are drug dealers though. Like what did he think the Serpents did? Just hung around and caused random trouble like they were a street gang from out of The Warriors? C'mon Jughead. Use your brain.
-Really the best part of the main story is the continued presence of Skeet Ulrich, oozing charisma as he gets to play the more confident, dangerous side of F.P. this week. After the drunken mess we saw last week, it's a bit weird to see how in control of himself F.P. is, but Ulrich keeps things consistent, letting us see the more vulnerable side of F.P. in moments like his confrontation with Fred or his interrogation from Jughead.
-Ultimately the saboteurs turn out to have been hired by Hiram, presumably because he knows about Hermione and Fred. This is an interesting development but I'm more curious about the fact that the thugs are identified as being from Montreal. First, is having Montreal connections supposed to be threatening? Every time they said Montreal, it just sounded goofier and goofier. Also, how does Hiram know people in Montreal? Are they implying that's where he's imprisoned? Or does he just have criminal connections up there? Is this all coming back to maple syrup?
-I know Fred is desperate for a crew but hiring a bunch of people you know are criminals because your old high school buddy charms you into it does not seem like the best idea.
-I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the Southside Serpent's bar, which gave off a really cool Mos Eisley vibe.
-Kevin's Southside Serpent boyfriend Joaquin returns to remind us he exists before the reveal that he's been romancing Kevin on F.P.'s orders to get a line on the sheriff's department. This is a decent twist but it really needed one or two more appearances from Joaquin prior to the reveal for it to land. Like we've only known the guy two episodes so it's not as big a betrayal for the audience as it could've been. Also Joaquin is totally going to fall for Kevin for real right before his deception is discovered and Kevin dumps him.
-Is F.P. the leader of the Serpents? From the way he commands the bar, he's clearly high up in the chain of command, but no one seems to notice this or care.
-Meanwhile the Polly Cooper story heats up as Betty and Veronica throw Polly a baby shower in an effort to ease tensions with Alice and to a lesser extent, the Blossoms in hopes of figuring something out for Polly and the baby (Or babies if Grandma Blossom is to be believed). Now throwing Alice, Polly, Penelope, and Cheryl into a room together seems like a recipe for disaster and the show even suggests it will be by having Hermione remind us that the Blossoms and Coopers are the Hatfields and McCoys of Riverdale. Rather then things turning crazy immediately though, writer Julia Cohen uses our expectations to build tension, even when nothing that tense is happening. When the conflict does burst out over Penelope trying to get Polly back to Thornhill, it's quick and messy, a cathartic release of tension that feels well-earned and that pushes the story in an interesting direction.
-Mädchen Amick has been killing it from episode one on Riverdale, playing a ridiculously broad cartoon villain, but one who had hints of depth and humanity to her. The Outsiders though brings her to new heights as we see Alice finally seem like a real, vulnerable human being finally starting to figure out the terribleness of her actions. It comes up slowly at first as we see her slowly warm up to the baby shower she had no interest in attending at the episode's beginning. Alice clearly doesn't like that this is happening but she does love her daughter and she does want her to come home so she decides to take the step of welcoming Polly home. It's more humanity than we've seen from Alice so far. Then Alice learns Hal tried to schedule an appointment for Polly to take care of her problem and we see something else. From the way Alice reacted when she heard what Hal did, I figured that this story was building to Alice throwing him out but I was blown away by the depths of pain and rage that Amick shows in her confrontation with Hal (Who is becoming more and more monstrous by the week as the depths of his Blossom hatred keep getting exposed). The way she shouts at him to get out, as we see her building up the strength to bring herself to say the words is extraordinary, only matched by the defeated and exhausted way she admits that she doesn't care about what people think anymore. It's a stunning display of the depths of her love for her daughter and it makes what comes next all the more heartbreaking.
-I'll admit it. I did not see Polly choosing to go to Thornhill rather than return home even after learning what Alice did coming. The episode lures you into a false sense of security with that scene between Betty and Polly before punching you in the gut with the very next scene. It's a shocking move but one that makes total sense. The Blossoms are sketchy but they're offering financial and emotional stability that Alice just can't offer. In addition, Alice did arrange for Polly to be sent to an asylum and that's not something that can be easily papered over. Still it's a surprising turn of events and the shot of Betty holding a crying Alice before showing Polly walk through those doors is an effectively devastating note to end the episode on.
-It's a small moment, but the look Penelope and Cliff give each other as Polly enters into Thornhill gave me chills. Polly, get out of there while you still can.
-I really like the cinematography on the big Betty/Jughead kiss. The way the camera uses the streetlights to give the impression of their romance being a bright spot in the darkness of their lives? Well done.
-This Week in Hot Archie Gang: Are you a fan of watching attractive men do manual labour? How about Cole Sprouse in a tank top? If so, then the beginning portions of the episode were definitely for you.
-This Week in Dumb Archie: Wearing your high school letterman jacket into a seedy bar? Way to be inconspicuous, Archie.
-Nana Rose Blossom has dementia and gypsy blood. So she's definitely giving Cheryl a run for her money as the best character on this show.
-So that giant building Fred is constructing is definitely going to be the Lodge Mansion, right? That feels like the only thing interesting enough to justify dedicating all this time to a story about construction contracts.
-Murder Theory Corner: Well the Southside Serpents are definitely trying to get away with something. Is it murder? Hard to say. I'm almost certain they burned down that car because of drugs though. Meanwhile Alice gives Hal a "You know what I'm capable of", which could be a red herring but given that we're eight episodes in and Jason and Polly's romance is still the only plausible reason for his murder, who knows? Alice is less obvious as a choice for killer now. Maybe she is the killer after all. Cliff Blossom is also starting to feel like a possibility, considering he's filling the role on the show that Hiram filled in the comics meaning that when Hiram comes to Riverdale inevitably, Cliff will be expendable.
-Alright, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, let's get to the actual meat of the episode. Riverdale did something weird this week: they made Archie the focus of the big, flashy A-story and relegated the clash between the Coopers and the Blossoms to the B-story sidelines. Now technically In A Lonely Place did the same thing, but Jughead was definitely the lead character of that episode, while Archie was relegated to the sidelines. To contrast, The Outsiders puts Archie front and centre as he learns about his father's business woes and takes matters into his own hands in an effort to fix them. Why is this weird? Mostly because Archie is almost never the focal point of a Riverdale episode. He gets storylines and stuff but they're almost never supposed to be the most compelling part of the episode. Even the episode ostensibly about Archie's romance with Grundy was more of a Betty episode. This has been to the show's benefit because Archie is clearly the weakest character and his biggest character traits (Music! Good friend apparently!) doesn't translate to compelling A-stories. The Outsiders takes a gamble though by leaning on Archie's 3rd and 4th biggest character traits (Loves his dad! Does Not Think Things Through!) and it works pretty well. Archie's still not as compelling as the other characters and The Outsiders isn't as good as the past couple episodes but it's a solid outing.
-The main thrust of the episode revolves around Andrews Construction, which is undergoing problems thanks to Cliff Blossom stealing away the construction crew and random thugs trashing the equipment when Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Moose, and some rando jock come in as a replacement crew. Now the parts of this story that revolve around the land itself, whether from Cliff Blossom trying to stall out construction to get the land or Hermione trying to not tell Fred that Hiram owns the land are pretty dull because land contracts are pretty dull and it's never been clear why so many TV shows seems to think otherwise. The interesting stuff comes from Fred trying to hold the company he built together and Archie realizing for the first time how hard his dad has been working to keep them afloat. That's compelling stuff. The Andrews boys aren't the most interesting characters on the show by far but their bond and their relationship has developed this season in an interesting way as Archie begins to see his dad as more human and tries to start giving back to his dad a little. The care put into developing that relationship carries much of this portion of the episode and provides useful context to Archie's impulsive decision making.
-Of course, as much as Archie wants to help his dad, he's still a kid so a lot of his solutions involve getting into danger, trying to take justice into his own hands and yelling at Jughead for not mentioning that his dad was a Serpent without trying to consider Jughead's possible reasons for omitting this. Maybe the reason Archie is the most frustrating character on this show is because Archie is the one who acts the most like a normal, if a bit hotheaded teenager would in this situation, and a normal teenager would not be useful. It's all well-acted by K.J. Apa though who brings a lot to a thankless role and the reconciliation between Archie and Jughead at the end does a good job at folding in the theme of children protecting their parents. Seriously though Arch, learn to control that temper of yours before you get into real trouble.
-Can you really blame Jughead for not wanting to tell people that his dad was a Serpent? Of course not, unless you're Archie. Cole Sprouse does a really good job capturing how conflicted Jughead is in this episode, as he struggles between helping Archie out and not wanting to believe that his dad could've sunk so low. Of course, even without his dad being a member, Jughead is right about not jumping to conclusions about who the thugs were. He does seem a little too surprised when he's informed the Serpents are drug dealers though. Like what did he think the Serpents did? Just hung around and caused random trouble like they were a street gang from out of The Warriors? C'mon Jughead. Use your brain.
-Really the best part of the main story is the continued presence of Skeet Ulrich, oozing charisma as he gets to play the more confident, dangerous side of F.P. this week. After the drunken mess we saw last week, it's a bit weird to see how in control of himself F.P. is, but Ulrich keeps things consistent, letting us see the more vulnerable side of F.P. in moments like his confrontation with Fred or his interrogation from Jughead.
-Ultimately the saboteurs turn out to have been hired by Hiram, presumably because he knows about Hermione and Fred. This is an interesting development but I'm more curious about the fact that the thugs are identified as being from Montreal. First, is having Montreal connections supposed to be threatening? Every time they said Montreal, it just sounded goofier and goofier. Also, how does Hiram know people in Montreal? Are they implying that's where he's imprisoned? Or does he just have criminal connections up there? Is this all coming back to maple syrup?
-I know Fred is desperate for a crew but hiring a bunch of people you know are criminals because your old high school buddy charms you into it does not seem like the best idea.
-I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the Southside Serpent's bar, which gave off a really cool Mos Eisley vibe.
-Kevin's Southside Serpent boyfriend Joaquin returns to remind us he exists before the reveal that he's been romancing Kevin on F.P.'s orders to get a line on the sheriff's department. This is a decent twist but it really needed one or two more appearances from Joaquin prior to the reveal for it to land. Like we've only known the guy two episodes so it's not as big a betrayal for the audience as it could've been. Also Joaquin is totally going to fall for Kevin for real right before his deception is discovered and Kevin dumps him.
-Is F.P. the leader of the Serpents? From the way he commands the bar, he's clearly high up in the chain of command, but no one seems to notice this or care.
-Meanwhile the Polly Cooper story heats up as Betty and Veronica throw Polly a baby shower in an effort to ease tensions with Alice and to a lesser extent, the Blossoms in hopes of figuring something out for Polly and the baby (Or babies if Grandma Blossom is to be believed). Now throwing Alice, Polly, Penelope, and Cheryl into a room together seems like a recipe for disaster and the show even suggests it will be by having Hermione remind us that the Blossoms and Coopers are the Hatfields and McCoys of Riverdale. Rather then things turning crazy immediately though, writer Julia Cohen uses our expectations to build tension, even when nothing that tense is happening. When the conflict does burst out over Penelope trying to get Polly back to Thornhill, it's quick and messy, a cathartic release of tension that feels well-earned and that pushes the story in an interesting direction.
-Mädchen Amick has been killing it from episode one on Riverdale, playing a ridiculously broad cartoon villain, but one who had hints of depth and humanity to her. The Outsiders though brings her to new heights as we see Alice finally seem like a real, vulnerable human being finally starting to figure out the terribleness of her actions. It comes up slowly at first as we see her slowly warm up to the baby shower she had no interest in attending at the episode's beginning. Alice clearly doesn't like that this is happening but she does love her daughter and she does want her to come home so she decides to take the step of welcoming Polly home. It's more humanity than we've seen from Alice so far. Then Alice learns Hal tried to schedule an appointment for Polly to take care of her problem and we see something else. From the way Alice reacted when she heard what Hal did, I figured that this story was building to Alice throwing him out but I was blown away by the depths of pain and rage that Amick shows in her confrontation with Hal (Who is becoming more and more monstrous by the week as the depths of his Blossom hatred keep getting exposed). The way she shouts at him to get out, as we see her building up the strength to bring herself to say the words is extraordinary, only matched by the defeated and exhausted way she admits that she doesn't care about what people think anymore. It's a stunning display of the depths of her love for her daughter and it makes what comes next all the more heartbreaking.
-I'll admit it. I did not see Polly choosing to go to Thornhill rather than return home even after learning what Alice did coming. The episode lures you into a false sense of security with that scene between Betty and Polly before punching you in the gut with the very next scene. It's a shocking move but one that makes total sense. The Blossoms are sketchy but they're offering financial and emotional stability that Alice just can't offer. In addition, Alice did arrange for Polly to be sent to an asylum and that's not something that can be easily papered over. Still it's a surprising turn of events and the shot of Betty holding a crying Alice before showing Polly walk through those doors is an effectively devastating note to end the episode on.
-It's a small moment, but the look Penelope and Cliff give each other as Polly enters into Thornhill gave me chills. Polly, get out of there while you still can.
-I really like the cinematography on the big Betty/Jughead kiss. The way the camera uses the streetlights to give the impression of their romance being a bright spot in the darkness of their lives? Well done.
-This Week in Hot Archie Gang: Are you a fan of watching attractive men do manual labour? How about Cole Sprouse in a tank top? If so, then the beginning portions of the episode were definitely for you.
-This Week in Dumb Archie: Wearing your high school letterman jacket into a seedy bar? Way to be inconspicuous, Archie.
-Nana Rose Blossom has dementia and gypsy blood. So she's definitely giving Cheryl a run for her money as the best character on this show.
-So that giant building Fred is constructing is definitely going to be the Lodge Mansion, right? That feels like the only thing interesting enough to justify dedicating all this time to a story about construction contracts.
-Murder Theory Corner: Well the Southside Serpents are definitely trying to get away with something. Is it murder? Hard to say. I'm almost certain they burned down that car because of drugs though. Meanwhile Alice gives Hal a "You know what I'm capable of", which could be a red herring but given that we're eight episodes in and Jason and Polly's romance is still the only plausible reason for his murder, who knows? Alice is less obvious as a choice for killer now. Maybe she is the killer after all. Cliff Blossom is also starting to feel like a possibility, considering he's filling the role on the show that Hiram filled in the comics meaning that when Hiram comes to Riverdale inevitably, Cliff will be expendable.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Jane The Virgin Gets Her Flirt On in Chapter 59
-This Week in Titles: Jane The Flirt, which appears over Jane pulling a Marilyn Monroe with her skirt blowing up. At least in her mind.
-Romance has been a key part of Jane The Virgin since it's very beginning. Though never quite as important a theme to the show as family, Jane's various romantic entanglements and relationships, whether with Michael, Rafael, or occasionally someone else (Jonathan Chavez, anyone?) have often been at the forefront of the narrative. Then Michael died, a move that necessitated a backgrounding of the romantic elements, at least where Jane was concerned. There was still romance in the show, most notably Petra's fling with Chuck and Xo's engagement to Bruce but it was all secondary to exploring where the characters were three years later and how Jane was starting to get to a place where she could heal from what she went through with Michael. This was a smart choice on the writer's part because rushing the romance in almost immediately after Michael died would feel sloppy and disrespectful to the fans who were invested in that relationship and this approach. Now that there's a bit of distance from Michael's death though, the romance comes rushing back in this week (after testing the waters for it last week) and Chapter Fifty-Nine has practically everyone trying to get some action.
-There are going to be a fair number of people out there who feel that it's still too soon for Jane to move on from Michael, at least for the audience who only lost him a couple months ago as opposed to three years. That's understandable but I suspect that even if the show waited until the end of next season for Jane to start dating again people would think it was too soon. Losing Michael was painful and his love story with Jane was one for the ages but romance is in "Jane's" blood and the show couldn't keep it away forever. Luckily Chapter Fifty-Nine makes it clear that the show isn't that eager for Jane to be rushing into a serious or even casual relationship anytime soon as multiple possible love interests for Jane are set-up then shut down.
-"Jane" loves it's visual devices and motifs and it comes up with the best one it's had in a while tonight as various characters (Mainly Jane but Rafael and Alba get in on it too) use a Terminator-esque love radar to try and determine if the person they're interacting with is flirting with them. It's a fun device that beautifully captures how hard it can be to figure out if a person is flirting with you or not as the signs and clues differ from situation to situation and person to person. Of course there's no such thing as perfect love radar and it's especially tough to get a handle on the signs when you've been out of the game for a long time and Jane and Rafael both misread situations at various points causing embarrassing situations.
-When Mateo's aide Alex was introduced last episode, it seemed pretty likely that he could end up as Jane's new love interest, and the promos for the episode heavily revolved around the scene where he lets Jane know in no uncertain terms that he is not interested in her, giving the impression that the entire episode would be about this. Happily, the writers go a different way with this. Alex is Mateo's aide and it would be entirely inappropriate for him to pursue a relationship with Jane or for her to even consider him as a romantic prospect, as multiple characters including Jane point out. Once Alex firmly shuts down the idea that he's interested in Jane, it's the end of that particular story. Instead the show uses this moment as a springboard to dive into just how rusty Jane has gotten at reading signs of romantic interest, showing how much work Jane has ahead of her if she really wants to get back into the dating game.
-After an interlude night out at the Fairwick which we'll get to in a sec, the show brings back Dennis, Michael's old partner who's investigating Scott's murder and who is also recently single. Pairing the two together would make a lot of sense in some ways. The two know each other, both have struggled with Michael's death and we saw their connection be rekindled a few episodes back. If they were to get together for a few episodes, no one would be that surprised so it's not shocking when they go out on a mini-golf date. But the show also recognizes that in the long run it doesn't make sense for Jane to date Dennis. His long history with Michael means she'd be thrown with constant reminders of him, which wouldn't bode well for the health of the relationship. Additionally Dennis is clearly not as over his ex-fiancee as he wants to think he is. So instead of forcing them to be together for a few episodes for the sake of drama, "Jane" has the two recognize at the end of the date that it won't work and Dennis decides to give his ex-fiancee another chance. After all the important thing about this story wasn't that Jane find her next great love, it's that she decided to put herself back out there again, even though it's not going to be an easy road for her.
-Now, let's be real. The easiest option for a new great romantic love for Jane would be her old great romantic love, Rafael. In fact it's almost a certainty that Jane and Rafael will get back together at some point, and a worse show would have pushed them back together already. "Jane" isn't a worse show though and instead, they continue to explore Jane and Rafael being best friends. Justin Baldoni is very charming as Raf attempts to help Jane get back up there, especially as it quickly becomes apparent that Rafael might not entirely know what he's doing either, suggesting Jane look for someone in "kids hotel" The Marbella and not realizing his presence will have people assuming they're a couple. It's once Petra gets involved and the action moves to the Fairwick that things really heat up and the interplay between Jane, Rafael, and Petra is very fun to watch. After all these three have been to, it's nice to see them in a place where they can be friends to each other and support each other, even if it's not the most conventional way of support.
-After Rafael and Petra hooked up at the end of last week's episode, it seemed like a sign that we would be returning to the Rafael/Petra romance, something that the show hinted at throughout the second season but never pulled the trigger on. This time however, they're flipping the script by having Rafael be in love with Petra while Petra dates Chuck. It's a neat twist that the episode cleverly builds to throughout the episode, having Rafael assume Petra is interested in him like in the past until she shuts that idea down hard. Petra still likes Chuck and the flirting we see her doing with Raf is just an attempt to make Chuck jealous. It's a nice way to play on expectations and it's nice that Chuck isn't going to be as disposable a love interest as Abby was for the sake of getting Raf and Petra back together.
-Chuck was introduced as a broad, gross slimeball, and while he's still a broad character, "Jane" and Johnny Messner have done an admirable job, making him more nuanced and complex. Chuck is as confused about why Petra cares about him as Petra is and that confusion translates into a much-needed vulnerability for the character.
-Alba's romance with Jorge continues to be a delightful turn for the character. Ivonne Coll has never really had the chance to play a full-blown love story for Alba (There was that priest in season 1 and her old flame Pablo in season 2 but the priest was just a flirtation and Pablo's story was mainly about what bad news the guy was) and it's fun to see her play lovestruck, as she finds a way to work Jorge into every conversation she has without fail. Her walk of shame at the end is a great pay-off to the "walk of lame" Jane, Rafael, and Petra had earlier and it'll be interesting to see how "Jane" continues to explore this as it lays the groundwork for Jorge maybe being not so perfect for Alba. After all Jorge seems sweet, but he also seems like more talk than action and his big romantic idea only came about because he overheard a lovestruck Alba waxing romantic about minigolf. He and Alba are cute together but it feels like Alba can do better than him.
-Rogelio and Xo are back together at last! Once Xo broke up with Bruce, it was only a matter of time before her and Rogelio reunited but it was still a fun surprise when they almost immediately started making out in the settlement chambers after Rogelio found out the engagement was off. Bruce was a nice guy and the show made me more invested in him than I ever expected but Xo and Ro are meant to be.
-The downside of this storyline is it exposes how much of a plot stall Rogelio's desire to have kids really was. Yes, it's nice that Mateo is filling that part of Rogelio's life and the pair's interactions are filling the bromance void that's been empty since Michael died nicely but it still feels cheap that we spent almost a season watching Rogelio insist he needed kids only for him to abruptly change his mind. Sure time changes things but it just keeps me from enjoying the reunion of Xo and Ro as much as I want to (Though Rogelio matter of factly informing Jane that he and Xo had just had sex in his car was hysterical).
-Rogelio also gets back in the telenovella game this week with Los Viajes De Guillermo, a very loose adaption of Gulliver's Travels that's also based off of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. It's an idea that looks like a lot of fun and the introduction of a sexier male co-star should lead to some great stories as a jealous Rogelio confronts his aging but hopefully The Passion of Santos remake isn't entirely being forgotten about. Dropping the idea in favour of more telenovella shenanigans for the rest of the show would feel like a step backwards. Rogelio mentioning it gives me hope that it'll come to fruition again sooner rather than later though.
-The heart glow is one of "Jane's" favourite visual devices, deployed many times over the years before being used to break everyone's hearts as we watched Michael's heart glow fade out. It was so effective that I was a little surprised that they brought the device back so soon to indicate Rafael's growing feelings for Petra. Things clicked into place however with the last-second reveal of Rogelio's new co-star, the young, very handsome Fabian who inspires a glow from a um, different part of Jane's body. The message is clear. It might be a while before Jane's heart is ready to glow again but her crotch isn't going to wait.
-The Scott murder investigation is mostly in the background this episode but we do learn that Petra has apparently kept in contact with Anezka these past couple years and has her hiding away somewhere. That sounds suspicious.
-So as the narrator begins to run down the great romantic loves of Jane's life, there's a first one before Michael that he purposely refrains from going into detail on. So yeah, whoever that is will definitely be showing up again by finale time.
-The narrator struggling to remember Dana's name, drawing our attention to the character as he struggles: cute joke or foreshadowing that she's important to the murder plot?
-"Jane" will be off for almost a month now after recently being off for three weeks. Come on CW, you're killing me here. The last five episodes of the season should air uninterrupted though, which will be nice.
-Romance has been a key part of Jane The Virgin since it's very beginning. Though never quite as important a theme to the show as family, Jane's various romantic entanglements and relationships, whether with Michael, Rafael, or occasionally someone else (Jonathan Chavez, anyone?) have often been at the forefront of the narrative. Then Michael died, a move that necessitated a backgrounding of the romantic elements, at least where Jane was concerned. There was still romance in the show, most notably Petra's fling with Chuck and Xo's engagement to Bruce but it was all secondary to exploring where the characters were three years later and how Jane was starting to get to a place where she could heal from what she went through with Michael. This was a smart choice on the writer's part because rushing the romance in almost immediately after Michael died would feel sloppy and disrespectful to the fans who were invested in that relationship and this approach. Now that there's a bit of distance from Michael's death though, the romance comes rushing back in this week (after testing the waters for it last week) and Chapter Fifty-Nine has practically everyone trying to get some action.
-There are going to be a fair number of people out there who feel that it's still too soon for Jane to move on from Michael, at least for the audience who only lost him a couple months ago as opposed to three years. That's understandable but I suspect that even if the show waited until the end of next season for Jane to start dating again people would think it was too soon. Losing Michael was painful and his love story with Jane was one for the ages but romance is in "Jane's" blood and the show couldn't keep it away forever. Luckily Chapter Fifty-Nine makes it clear that the show isn't that eager for Jane to be rushing into a serious or even casual relationship anytime soon as multiple possible love interests for Jane are set-up then shut down.
-"Jane" loves it's visual devices and motifs and it comes up with the best one it's had in a while tonight as various characters (Mainly Jane but Rafael and Alba get in on it too) use a Terminator-esque love radar to try and determine if the person they're interacting with is flirting with them. It's a fun device that beautifully captures how hard it can be to figure out if a person is flirting with you or not as the signs and clues differ from situation to situation and person to person. Of course there's no such thing as perfect love radar and it's especially tough to get a handle on the signs when you've been out of the game for a long time and Jane and Rafael both misread situations at various points causing embarrassing situations.
-When Mateo's aide Alex was introduced last episode, it seemed pretty likely that he could end up as Jane's new love interest, and the promos for the episode heavily revolved around the scene where he lets Jane know in no uncertain terms that he is not interested in her, giving the impression that the entire episode would be about this. Happily, the writers go a different way with this. Alex is Mateo's aide and it would be entirely inappropriate for him to pursue a relationship with Jane or for her to even consider him as a romantic prospect, as multiple characters including Jane point out. Once Alex firmly shuts down the idea that he's interested in Jane, it's the end of that particular story. Instead the show uses this moment as a springboard to dive into just how rusty Jane has gotten at reading signs of romantic interest, showing how much work Jane has ahead of her if she really wants to get back into the dating game.
-After an interlude night out at the Fairwick which we'll get to in a sec, the show brings back Dennis, Michael's old partner who's investigating Scott's murder and who is also recently single. Pairing the two together would make a lot of sense in some ways. The two know each other, both have struggled with Michael's death and we saw their connection be rekindled a few episodes back. If they were to get together for a few episodes, no one would be that surprised so it's not shocking when they go out on a mini-golf date. But the show also recognizes that in the long run it doesn't make sense for Jane to date Dennis. His long history with Michael means she'd be thrown with constant reminders of him, which wouldn't bode well for the health of the relationship. Additionally Dennis is clearly not as over his ex-fiancee as he wants to think he is. So instead of forcing them to be together for a few episodes for the sake of drama, "Jane" has the two recognize at the end of the date that it won't work and Dennis decides to give his ex-fiancee another chance. After all the important thing about this story wasn't that Jane find her next great love, it's that she decided to put herself back out there again, even though it's not going to be an easy road for her.
-Now, let's be real. The easiest option for a new great romantic love for Jane would be her old great romantic love, Rafael. In fact it's almost a certainty that Jane and Rafael will get back together at some point, and a worse show would have pushed them back together already. "Jane" isn't a worse show though and instead, they continue to explore Jane and Rafael being best friends. Justin Baldoni is very charming as Raf attempts to help Jane get back up there, especially as it quickly becomes apparent that Rafael might not entirely know what he's doing either, suggesting Jane look for someone in "kids hotel" The Marbella and not realizing his presence will have people assuming they're a couple. It's once Petra gets involved and the action moves to the Fairwick that things really heat up and the interplay between Jane, Rafael, and Petra is very fun to watch. After all these three have been to, it's nice to see them in a place where they can be friends to each other and support each other, even if it's not the most conventional way of support.
-After Rafael and Petra hooked up at the end of last week's episode, it seemed like a sign that we would be returning to the Rafael/Petra romance, something that the show hinted at throughout the second season but never pulled the trigger on. This time however, they're flipping the script by having Rafael be in love with Petra while Petra dates Chuck. It's a neat twist that the episode cleverly builds to throughout the episode, having Rafael assume Petra is interested in him like in the past until she shuts that idea down hard. Petra still likes Chuck and the flirting we see her doing with Raf is just an attempt to make Chuck jealous. It's a nice way to play on expectations and it's nice that Chuck isn't going to be as disposable a love interest as Abby was for the sake of getting Raf and Petra back together.
-Chuck was introduced as a broad, gross slimeball, and while he's still a broad character, "Jane" and Johnny Messner have done an admirable job, making him more nuanced and complex. Chuck is as confused about why Petra cares about him as Petra is and that confusion translates into a much-needed vulnerability for the character.
-Alba's romance with Jorge continues to be a delightful turn for the character. Ivonne Coll has never really had the chance to play a full-blown love story for Alba (There was that priest in season 1 and her old flame Pablo in season 2 but the priest was just a flirtation and Pablo's story was mainly about what bad news the guy was) and it's fun to see her play lovestruck, as she finds a way to work Jorge into every conversation she has without fail. Her walk of shame at the end is a great pay-off to the "walk of lame" Jane, Rafael, and Petra had earlier and it'll be interesting to see how "Jane" continues to explore this as it lays the groundwork for Jorge maybe being not so perfect for Alba. After all Jorge seems sweet, but he also seems like more talk than action and his big romantic idea only came about because he overheard a lovestruck Alba waxing romantic about minigolf. He and Alba are cute together but it feels like Alba can do better than him.
-Rogelio and Xo are back together at last! Once Xo broke up with Bruce, it was only a matter of time before her and Rogelio reunited but it was still a fun surprise when they almost immediately started making out in the settlement chambers after Rogelio found out the engagement was off. Bruce was a nice guy and the show made me more invested in him than I ever expected but Xo and Ro are meant to be.
-The downside of this storyline is it exposes how much of a plot stall Rogelio's desire to have kids really was. Yes, it's nice that Mateo is filling that part of Rogelio's life and the pair's interactions are filling the bromance void that's been empty since Michael died nicely but it still feels cheap that we spent almost a season watching Rogelio insist he needed kids only for him to abruptly change his mind. Sure time changes things but it just keeps me from enjoying the reunion of Xo and Ro as much as I want to (Though Rogelio matter of factly informing Jane that he and Xo had just had sex in his car was hysterical).
-Rogelio also gets back in the telenovella game this week with Los Viajes De Guillermo, a very loose adaption of Gulliver's Travels that's also based off of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. It's an idea that looks like a lot of fun and the introduction of a sexier male co-star should lead to some great stories as a jealous Rogelio confronts his aging but hopefully The Passion of Santos remake isn't entirely being forgotten about. Dropping the idea in favour of more telenovella shenanigans for the rest of the show would feel like a step backwards. Rogelio mentioning it gives me hope that it'll come to fruition again sooner rather than later though.
-The heart glow is one of "Jane's" favourite visual devices, deployed many times over the years before being used to break everyone's hearts as we watched Michael's heart glow fade out. It was so effective that I was a little surprised that they brought the device back so soon to indicate Rafael's growing feelings for Petra. Things clicked into place however with the last-second reveal of Rogelio's new co-star, the young, very handsome Fabian who inspires a glow from a um, different part of Jane's body. The message is clear. It might be a while before Jane's heart is ready to glow again but her crotch isn't going to wait.
-The Scott murder investigation is mostly in the background this episode but we do learn that Petra has apparently kept in contact with Anezka these past couple years and has her hiding away somewhere. That sounds suspicious.
-So as the narrator begins to run down the great romantic loves of Jane's life, there's a first one before Michael that he purposely refrains from going into detail on. So yeah, whoever that is will definitely be showing up again by finale time.
-The narrator struggling to remember Dana's name, drawing our attention to the character as he struggles: cute joke or foreshadowing that she's important to the murder plot?
-"Jane" will be off for almost a month now after recently being off for three weeks. Come on CW, you're killing me here. The last five episodes of the season should air uninterrupted though, which will be nice.
Saturday, 25 March 2017
Superstore Tackles A Complex Obstacle on Mateo's Last Day
-When Superstore had Mateo discover he was an undocumented immigrant back in August's Olympic Special, it came at a time when the 2016 election had made immigration a hot topic. Following the election and the victory of Donald Trump, it's become even more timely and relevant than the writers probably thought it would be when they introduced the storyline, making it an even trickier subject to mine for comedy. Mateo's undocumented status has been mostly backgrounded throughout the season however as the character's been developed in other ways, mainly through his relationship with Jeff. It's popped up so rarely, it's easy to forget it exists. So when Mateo's undocumented status suddenly pops back in with a vengeance and intertwines itself with Mateo's relationship, it makes for a more powerful and emotionally resonant story than if it had been an ongoing concern every week. Mateo's Last Day (Directed by series star America Ferarra) handles the issue smartly, subtly and gracefully, adding in enough laughs to balance the more serious parts of the episode effectively.
-When last week's episode ended with Jeff saying Mateo needed to transfer stores in order for corporate to be OK with their relationship, it was obvious that Mateo probably wasn't going to transfer stores. Nico Santos is too valuable an ensemble player to be let go this early in the show's run. The introduction of the much nicer Signature store Mateo is supposed to transfer to made it even clearer that something was going to go wrong because that's just how comedy works. The only question was how this was all going to fall apart and Mateo's lack of a social security card was a nice, elegant answer to that question. Mateo's undocumented status only ever really comes up when it can organically tie into the story and this was a masterful way to throw a big obstacle between Mateo and Jeff, which is really what the whole story is about.
-Mateo and Jeff's romance has been going on for much of the season but the secretive nature of said romances means the pair haven't actually shared a lot of screentime together, typically only getting a scene or two whenever Jeff is in an episode. So it's impressive how fleshed out and developed the relationship feels. Michael Bunin has done a fantastic job making Jeff feel like a real human being rather than a disposable love interest that can be thrown away without consequence, making us care about him as a character. Bunin and Santos also have terrific chemistry and that chemistry helps us get invested in their relationship, which adds extra weight when that relationship ends. The two of them also do maybe their best work to date in the climatic break-up scene. You can feel Mateo's pain and agony as he tells Jeff he doesn't love him as well as Bunin's hurt from those words.
-Typically, when a TV relationship ends because one party is keeping a secret and thinks breaking up with the other person instead of just telling the truth is the best course of action, it feels contrived and ridiculous. That being said, Mateo choosing not to tell Jeff about his undocumented status works here because the show and Santos do a lot of groundwork leading up that decision so we understand why Mateo makes it. Jeff cares about Mateo but he also cares about his job and we've seen how insecure Mateo can be about where he stands with Jeff as recently as the last episode. Mateo should trust that Jeff will be able to handle the truth about his undocumented status but he just can't bring himself to do it. It's tragic and frustrating but it makes sense on a character level. The good news is that there's still plenty of time left in the season for Mateo to change his mind and tell Jeff the truth (And I hope he does).
-Jonah is used purely as comic relief for Mateo's story this week as he offers to marry Mateo multiple times before trying and failing to beat up Mateo. It's nice to see that the Superstore writers don't feel the need to make Jonah a driving part of a storyline every week and Ben Feldman is clearly having a blast embracing the goofier side of Jonah. The final beat of him punching out Mateo after Mateo calls off the transfer and breaks up with Jeff is a darkly hilarious moment to close the episode on. There's also a lot of fun interplay between Feldman, Santos, and Nichole Bloom this week that makes me want to see more of Jonah, Cheyenne, and Mateo as a comic trio.
-With the Mateo story doing the emotional heavy-lifting for the episode, the other two stories are much sillier and comedy-driven to great effect. Glenn and eventually Amy getting sucked into a battle with an internet troll isn't the most original story in the world but it works because of how well-executed the various comedic beats are, and the game performances from Mark McKinney, America Ferrara, and guest star Neil Casey (Who you might know from the Ghostbusters reboot and the ill-fated but brilliant Yahoo Screen Original Other Space). There's no reasoning with trolls on the internet and everyone knows it, but Glenn cares about the store so much that he can't help from trying to make Tim see the store the same way he does, even though every time he attempts to do so only makes the initial Yelp review worse.
-Internet trolls and their unique brand of awfulness are hard to capture on television without turning them into a caricature, but episode writer Jonathan Green and Neil Casey do an admirable job making Tim feel like an actual character and not a plot device. Casey gives a great performance as someone who seems like a perfectly nice, reasonable guy who doesn't seem like an internet troll at all until he posts online. When Amy decides to visit him at his home and we see he lives with his mentally-ill, hoarder mother who he's been forced to take care of, it initially seems like the episode is offering an easy, lazy explanation for his behaviour. He's frustrated in his own life so he takes it out online. When he and Amy have a heart-to-heart where they discover they aren't so different, I was ready to roll my eyes. Then the episode smartly subverts this by having the heart-to-heart ultimately lead to nothing but another update of his awful review, leaving it ambiguous as to whether he meant anything he said or if he was just screwing with Amy the whole time (The truth is probably somewhere in the middle but the episode leaves it to the viewer to make their own decision). The point is clear, you just can't reason with terrible people on the internet so you're going to need to find another way to handle it.
-Garrett and Dina get a much slighter story as they're required to sign a relationship disclosure form and balk at the limited number of options they have to describe the nature of their relationship (Spouse, Family Member, or Romantic). Superstore has avoided going a conventional route for whatever is going on between these two all season and that pays off dividends here as practically half of corporate gets drawn into their web. They're not friends so "friends with benefits" is off the table. They don't hate each other so "hate effing" doesn't work either. The further they go into their web trying to figure out what label fits best, the more convoluted and hilarious everything gets. The ultimate decision to label the 4th box "other" works like gangbusters because it's so obviously simple, it's absurd no one thought of it in the first place. I still expect Garrett and Dina to try dating for real eventually but I don't mind waiting for that to happen if the show can keep getting material this good from their "other" relationship.
-Best Interstitial: Nothing of note this week. Let's highlight the moment in Mateo's "Looking for a fight" montage where he challenges Brett to a fight and Brett immediately draws a knife. Don't screw around with Brett,
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: The look on his face when Amy refers to the person who left a negative Yelp review as a "troll", prompting her to clarify that she means a regular-sized non-magical human person.
-Mateo making an elaborate departure video for himself makes for a terrific cold open. "What am I gonna miss the most? Uh, the people. They're often hilarious, simple, basic. Just sort of harmless."
-Cloud Nine being completely and utterly unready for any kind of natural disaster has been a nice little running joke that continues tonight when Glenn mentions it's been over eight years since their last tornado drill.
-When last week's episode ended with Jeff saying Mateo needed to transfer stores in order for corporate to be OK with their relationship, it was obvious that Mateo probably wasn't going to transfer stores. Nico Santos is too valuable an ensemble player to be let go this early in the show's run. The introduction of the much nicer Signature store Mateo is supposed to transfer to made it even clearer that something was going to go wrong because that's just how comedy works. The only question was how this was all going to fall apart and Mateo's lack of a social security card was a nice, elegant answer to that question. Mateo's undocumented status only ever really comes up when it can organically tie into the story and this was a masterful way to throw a big obstacle between Mateo and Jeff, which is really what the whole story is about.
-Mateo and Jeff's romance has been going on for much of the season but the secretive nature of said romances means the pair haven't actually shared a lot of screentime together, typically only getting a scene or two whenever Jeff is in an episode. So it's impressive how fleshed out and developed the relationship feels. Michael Bunin has done a fantastic job making Jeff feel like a real human being rather than a disposable love interest that can be thrown away without consequence, making us care about him as a character. Bunin and Santos also have terrific chemistry and that chemistry helps us get invested in their relationship, which adds extra weight when that relationship ends. The two of them also do maybe their best work to date in the climatic break-up scene. You can feel Mateo's pain and agony as he tells Jeff he doesn't love him as well as Bunin's hurt from those words.
-Typically, when a TV relationship ends because one party is keeping a secret and thinks breaking up with the other person instead of just telling the truth is the best course of action, it feels contrived and ridiculous. That being said, Mateo choosing not to tell Jeff about his undocumented status works here because the show and Santos do a lot of groundwork leading up that decision so we understand why Mateo makes it. Jeff cares about Mateo but he also cares about his job and we've seen how insecure Mateo can be about where he stands with Jeff as recently as the last episode. Mateo should trust that Jeff will be able to handle the truth about his undocumented status but he just can't bring himself to do it. It's tragic and frustrating but it makes sense on a character level. The good news is that there's still plenty of time left in the season for Mateo to change his mind and tell Jeff the truth (And I hope he does).
-Jonah is used purely as comic relief for Mateo's story this week as he offers to marry Mateo multiple times before trying and failing to beat up Mateo. It's nice to see that the Superstore writers don't feel the need to make Jonah a driving part of a storyline every week and Ben Feldman is clearly having a blast embracing the goofier side of Jonah. The final beat of him punching out Mateo after Mateo calls off the transfer and breaks up with Jeff is a darkly hilarious moment to close the episode on. There's also a lot of fun interplay between Feldman, Santos, and Nichole Bloom this week that makes me want to see more of Jonah, Cheyenne, and Mateo as a comic trio.
-With the Mateo story doing the emotional heavy-lifting for the episode, the other two stories are much sillier and comedy-driven to great effect. Glenn and eventually Amy getting sucked into a battle with an internet troll isn't the most original story in the world but it works because of how well-executed the various comedic beats are, and the game performances from Mark McKinney, America Ferrara, and guest star Neil Casey (Who you might know from the Ghostbusters reboot and the ill-fated but brilliant Yahoo Screen Original Other Space). There's no reasoning with trolls on the internet and everyone knows it, but Glenn cares about the store so much that he can't help from trying to make Tim see the store the same way he does, even though every time he attempts to do so only makes the initial Yelp review worse.
-Internet trolls and their unique brand of awfulness are hard to capture on television without turning them into a caricature, but episode writer Jonathan Green and Neil Casey do an admirable job making Tim feel like an actual character and not a plot device. Casey gives a great performance as someone who seems like a perfectly nice, reasonable guy who doesn't seem like an internet troll at all until he posts online. When Amy decides to visit him at his home and we see he lives with his mentally-ill, hoarder mother who he's been forced to take care of, it initially seems like the episode is offering an easy, lazy explanation for his behaviour. He's frustrated in his own life so he takes it out online. When he and Amy have a heart-to-heart where they discover they aren't so different, I was ready to roll my eyes. Then the episode smartly subverts this by having the heart-to-heart ultimately lead to nothing but another update of his awful review, leaving it ambiguous as to whether he meant anything he said or if he was just screwing with Amy the whole time (The truth is probably somewhere in the middle but the episode leaves it to the viewer to make their own decision). The point is clear, you just can't reason with terrible people on the internet so you're going to need to find another way to handle it.
-Garrett and Dina get a much slighter story as they're required to sign a relationship disclosure form and balk at the limited number of options they have to describe the nature of their relationship (Spouse, Family Member, or Romantic). Superstore has avoided going a conventional route for whatever is going on between these two all season and that pays off dividends here as practically half of corporate gets drawn into their web. They're not friends so "friends with benefits" is off the table. They don't hate each other so "hate effing" doesn't work either. The further they go into their web trying to figure out what label fits best, the more convoluted and hilarious everything gets. The ultimate decision to label the 4th box "other" works like gangbusters because it's so obviously simple, it's absurd no one thought of it in the first place. I still expect Garrett and Dina to try dating for real eventually but I don't mind waiting for that to happen if the show can keep getting material this good from their "other" relationship.
-Best Interstitial: Nothing of note this week. Let's highlight the moment in Mateo's "Looking for a fight" montage where he challenges Brett to a fight and Brett immediately draws a knife. Don't screw around with Brett,
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: The look on his face when Amy refers to the person who left a negative Yelp review as a "troll", prompting her to clarify that she means a regular-sized non-magical human person.
-Mateo making an elaborate departure video for himself makes for a terrific cold open. "What am I gonna miss the most? Uh, the people. They're often hilarious, simple, basic. Just sort of harmless."
-Cloud Nine being completely and utterly unready for any kind of natural disaster has been a nice little running joke that continues tonight when Glenn mentions it's been over eight years since their last tornado drill.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Superstore Tries To Win An Integrity Award
-It's been a couple weeks since the last new episode of Superstore but Integrity Award did a strong job keeping the season's momentum going with another funny installment filled with great jokes, solid character development and an expertly deployed setpiece.
-When we first met Amy in season 1, it became quickly apparent that she was the kind of person who took care of other people at the expense of her own needs, the one who was responsible because she felt she had to be. In season 2, Amy's arc has been her learning to be assertive about what she wants and take care of herself. It's been very satisfying to watch her progress throughout the season and her arc reaches a big turning point tonight as we meet her parents and find out why she has to be so responsible in the first place.
-Tony Plana (Who was also America Ferrara's dad on Ugly Betty) and Marlene Forte were terrific tonight as Ron and Connie, who in just a handful of scenes became fully-fleshed out characters who felt like they could exist outside of Amy (I would actually totally watch a spin-off about Ron and Connie, particularly if it meant more of Ron's celebrity portraits). They aren't terrible parents, in fact they seem like terrific people, but they just don't know how to prioritize tasks or manage their time wisely or get the things done that actually matter. This has caused Amy to have to be the one who's always getting things done. The problem is that this has created a cycle where Ron and Connie have no need to get organized or hurry up for once because Amy has always kept them from dealing with the consequences of their actions. The only reason Amy is even there at all is because they didn't bother to get a truck for their move, causing Amy to take one of Cloud Nine's delivery trucks. So when Amy makes the decision to sneak away and leave her parents to clean up their own mess for once, it's rightfully played not as a selfish act but as a triumphant moment of growth for the character.
-The show continues to take it's time setting up a Jonah/Amy romance, which suits me fine. It has a lot of fun tonight with the two of them just being friends, as Jonah takes advantage of this opportunity to learn all about young Amy and finds out that the two of them have a lot in common and would've been friends as kids (Not that Amy wants to admit that). And when Amy is pushed to her breaking point, Jonah is there to support her and help convince her that the right thing to do is leave. America Ferrara and Ben Feldman continue to have terrific chemistry together and I could easily watch another season of them just dragging out their attraction for each other before I got tired of it. The end beat of the story with Amy ignoring a call from Adam felt a little unnecessary though, like it was only their because the writers didn't trust us to pick up on Amy and Jonah's growing bond on their own.
-Glenn and Garrett are two characters who play off of each other very well but they don't get a lot of actual stories together. Integrity Award fixes that as Glenn's campaign to win the upcoming Cloud Nine Integrity Award (And the unframed certificate and All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Luncheon that comes with it) is threatened when Garrett rescues a veteran's dog that was trapped in the snow. We've seen Glenn act insecure and petty before but it gets taken to a new level tonight as Glenn tries to belittle and underplay Garrett's good deed at every turn, and getting Cheyenne (Who nominated Glenn without any provocation from Glenn) to expand and enhance the details of her nomination for him. It's an ugly side of Glenn that we're not used to seeing but Mark McKinney plays it terrifically and naturally so it feels consistent to Glenn's character.
-When Garrett comes in with that dog, it initially seems like the whole thing is an act he's pulling to win the integrity award and mess with Glenn but it turns out that Garrett has no interest in the award, he was just genuinely doing something good for once. He even keeps trying to help Glenn out and direct the attention he's getting elsewhere until Glenn finally pushes him too far and he begins accepting nominations out of spite. It's not that Garrett cares about the award that much, it's the fact that Glenn is undermining one of the few good deeds Garrett has done and it hurts. Colton Dunn is always terrific as Garrett when he's just in deadpan trickster mode, but he does equally well showing off the vulnerable side of Garrett.
-Mateo's misadventures trying to fix things around the store so Dina thinks Jeff is obsessed enough with Mateo to give him special treatment is a fun story that serves as a fun parallel to Sandra sending herself all those elaborate Valentine's gifts a few weeks back. It turns out Mateo's real relationship with Jeff isn't as exciting to the Cloud Nine employees as Sandra's fake one so Mateo is desperate for the same kind of employee validation about his relationship that Sandra got. Dina's manipulating Mateo when she suggests Jeff doesn't care enough to give him preferential treatment and Mateo knows it but he goes for it all the same because Dina has tapped into an actual fear Mateo has. Hence Mateo trying to be a one-man fixing crew, which becomes harder to sustain as Dina's demands get more and more ridiculous (Her vision for what the store could look like in three years is hilariously over-the-top).
-A good rule of thumb for if a bug bomb appears in a sitcom is that it's going to backfire spectacularly so I was ready for Mateo's effort to debug the break room to go awry. I was not ready for him to set off ten at once, forcing a store-wide evacuation. The way the whole thing slowly builds is masterful. There's just enough of a delay from seeing Mateo with the bug bombs to the reveal of the spreading toxins that we almost forget about the whole thing, making it more funny when the whole store starts getting affected.
-The episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger as Mateo is informed he'll have to transfer stores in order to keep his relationship with Jeff going. Since it seems unlikely that Nico Santos is leaving the show, it looks like the Jeff/Mateo romance is near it's breaking point. That'll be a shame because it'll probably mean less Jeff and his delightfully odd normalness but hopefully Jeff will still pop in now and then if only to be a district manager
-Best Interstitial: A couple makes out in the middle of the check-out line until they're asked to move by a customer, so they move a couple inches and get back to making out.
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: The whole Glenn/Garrett story was full of great moments but I think Glenn's reaction to the windows on his car being shattered again takes the cake this week. "Why can't I just have a car?!" Sidenote, I did not see the reveal that Glenn was the owner of that poor car coming even though I totally should have because bad things only ever happen to Glenn's car.
-The runner-up best Glenn moment though was his increasingly befuddled reaction to Garrett feigning ignorance at how an all-you-can-eat buffet works. "Oh, I see, so it's all you can eat on your one trip to the buffet". "No, you're you're not getting it. It's multiple trips". "What size plate do you have to bring with you?" "They have plates there!"
-The Vladmir Putin painting that Jonah is wrangled into buying from Ron was a terrific visual gag.
-Another great visual gag is the shrine to Scott Wolf that young Amy has set up. This also leads to the great tag as it turns out that Amy is still obsessed with Scott Wolf and that Jonah's celebrity crush back in the day was Alyssa Milano (Which of course it was).
-When we first met Amy in season 1, it became quickly apparent that she was the kind of person who took care of other people at the expense of her own needs, the one who was responsible because she felt she had to be. In season 2, Amy's arc has been her learning to be assertive about what she wants and take care of herself. It's been very satisfying to watch her progress throughout the season and her arc reaches a big turning point tonight as we meet her parents and find out why she has to be so responsible in the first place.
-Tony Plana (Who was also America Ferrara's dad on Ugly Betty) and Marlene Forte were terrific tonight as Ron and Connie, who in just a handful of scenes became fully-fleshed out characters who felt like they could exist outside of Amy (I would actually totally watch a spin-off about Ron and Connie, particularly if it meant more of Ron's celebrity portraits). They aren't terrible parents, in fact they seem like terrific people, but they just don't know how to prioritize tasks or manage their time wisely or get the things done that actually matter. This has caused Amy to have to be the one who's always getting things done. The problem is that this has created a cycle where Ron and Connie have no need to get organized or hurry up for once because Amy has always kept them from dealing with the consequences of their actions. The only reason Amy is even there at all is because they didn't bother to get a truck for their move, causing Amy to take one of Cloud Nine's delivery trucks. So when Amy makes the decision to sneak away and leave her parents to clean up their own mess for once, it's rightfully played not as a selfish act but as a triumphant moment of growth for the character.
-The show continues to take it's time setting up a Jonah/Amy romance, which suits me fine. It has a lot of fun tonight with the two of them just being friends, as Jonah takes advantage of this opportunity to learn all about young Amy and finds out that the two of them have a lot in common and would've been friends as kids (Not that Amy wants to admit that). And when Amy is pushed to her breaking point, Jonah is there to support her and help convince her that the right thing to do is leave. America Ferrara and Ben Feldman continue to have terrific chemistry together and I could easily watch another season of them just dragging out their attraction for each other before I got tired of it. The end beat of the story with Amy ignoring a call from Adam felt a little unnecessary though, like it was only their because the writers didn't trust us to pick up on Amy and Jonah's growing bond on their own.
-Glenn and Garrett are two characters who play off of each other very well but they don't get a lot of actual stories together. Integrity Award fixes that as Glenn's campaign to win the upcoming Cloud Nine Integrity Award (And the unframed certificate and All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Luncheon that comes with it) is threatened when Garrett rescues a veteran's dog that was trapped in the snow. We've seen Glenn act insecure and petty before but it gets taken to a new level tonight as Glenn tries to belittle and underplay Garrett's good deed at every turn, and getting Cheyenne (Who nominated Glenn without any provocation from Glenn) to expand and enhance the details of her nomination for him. It's an ugly side of Glenn that we're not used to seeing but Mark McKinney plays it terrifically and naturally so it feels consistent to Glenn's character.
-When Garrett comes in with that dog, it initially seems like the whole thing is an act he's pulling to win the integrity award and mess with Glenn but it turns out that Garrett has no interest in the award, he was just genuinely doing something good for once. He even keeps trying to help Glenn out and direct the attention he's getting elsewhere until Glenn finally pushes him too far and he begins accepting nominations out of spite. It's not that Garrett cares about the award that much, it's the fact that Glenn is undermining one of the few good deeds Garrett has done and it hurts. Colton Dunn is always terrific as Garrett when he's just in deadpan trickster mode, but he does equally well showing off the vulnerable side of Garrett.
-Mateo's misadventures trying to fix things around the store so Dina thinks Jeff is obsessed enough with Mateo to give him special treatment is a fun story that serves as a fun parallel to Sandra sending herself all those elaborate Valentine's gifts a few weeks back. It turns out Mateo's real relationship with Jeff isn't as exciting to the Cloud Nine employees as Sandra's fake one so Mateo is desperate for the same kind of employee validation about his relationship that Sandra got. Dina's manipulating Mateo when she suggests Jeff doesn't care enough to give him preferential treatment and Mateo knows it but he goes for it all the same because Dina has tapped into an actual fear Mateo has. Hence Mateo trying to be a one-man fixing crew, which becomes harder to sustain as Dina's demands get more and more ridiculous (Her vision for what the store could look like in three years is hilariously over-the-top).
-A good rule of thumb for if a bug bomb appears in a sitcom is that it's going to backfire spectacularly so I was ready for Mateo's effort to debug the break room to go awry. I was not ready for him to set off ten at once, forcing a store-wide evacuation. The way the whole thing slowly builds is masterful. There's just enough of a delay from seeing Mateo with the bug bombs to the reveal of the spreading toxins that we almost forget about the whole thing, making it more funny when the whole store starts getting affected.
-The episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger as Mateo is informed he'll have to transfer stores in order to keep his relationship with Jeff going. Since it seems unlikely that Nico Santos is leaving the show, it looks like the Jeff/Mateo romance is near it's breaking point. That'll be a shame because it'll probably mean less Jeff and his delightfully odd normalness but hopefully Jeff will still pop in now and then if only to be a district manager
-Best Interstitial: A couple makes out in the middle of the check-out line until they're asked to move by a customer, so they move a couple inches and get back to making out.
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: The whole Glenn/Garrett story was full of great moments but I think Glenn's reaction to the windows on his car being shattered again takes the cake this week. "Why can't I just have a car?!" Sidenote, I did not see the reveal that Glenn was the owner of that poor car coming even though I totally should have because bad things only ever happen to Glenn's car.
-The runner-up best Glenn moment though was his increasingly befuddled reaction to Garrett feigning ignorance at how an all-you-can-eat buffet works. "Oh, I see, so it's all you can eat on your one trip to the buffet". "No, you're you're not getting it. It's multiple trips". "What size plate do you have to bring with you?" "They have plates there!"
-The Vladmir Putin painting that Jonah is wrangled into buying from Ron was a terrific visual gag.
-Another great visual gag is the shrine to Scott Wolf that young Amy has set up. This also leads to the great tag as it turns out that Amy is still obsessed with Scott Wolf and that Jonah's celebrity crush back in the day was Alyssa Milano (Which of course it was).
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Review is One of TV's Darkest And Most Hilarious Anti-Hero Shows
This post contains significant plot details about the first two seasons of Review. Knowing this stuff won't ruin the actual viewing experience, but if you're already planning to watch Review after the first couple paragraphs, stop there so as to maintain the surprises the show has in store.
"Life. It's literally all we have. But is it any good?"
I'm going to describe a TV show for you. A devoted family man chooses an unorthodox career path. Though his intentions could be considered somewhat noble, the actions he takes to further this career bring nothing but harm and destruction to himself and to everyone around him. Before long a body count starts building up and everything he does has an impending sense of doom. Yet, despite having every chance to change or get out, the man refuses to abandon course because he believes that what he's doing is too important to stop. Even as he stands to lose everything he keeps going, always apparently hitting rock bottom only to learn he still has a long ways down to go.
Sound familiar? You can find at least a part of the basic premise I described above in the majority of anti-hero dramas that have been so popular in the past few years. Without any of the details filled in, I could easily be talking about Breaking Bad. The key difference between the show I'm describing and all those anti-hero shows though? This one is also one of the funniest shows you'll ever watch, even as the feeling of dread kicks in. It's called Review and it's both familiar and unlike anything you've ever watched, a darkly hysterical look at human nature, the systems we trap ourselves in, and the subjective nature of criticism.
Created and adapted from an Australian TV Show by Andy Daly, Jeffrey Blitz, and Charlie Siskel, Review (Which starts it's abbreviated 3rd and final season in the U.S. tonight before premiering in Canada next week on MUCH) stars Daly as self-proclaimed "life reviewer" Forrest MacNeil. Forrest hosts "Review", a show-within-a-show where he reviews life experiences chosen from an apparently random system of viewer requests on a scale of 0.5 to 5 stars. The reviews range from small things like being racist, having a best friend, being the life of the party, and public speaking to more significant things like divorce, being buried alive, being a little person and going to space. No matter the size of the task though, the reviews almost always backfire on Forrest, wrecking havoc on his life and bringing pain on him and/or the people around him in all kinds of unexpected ways, which is where the fun and dread come into play. From having to attend a custody hearing in a Batman costume to getting lost at sea for three months to seeing an imaginary friend brutally shanked in prison, you can never predict how a review will go wrong for Forrest, only that it will go wrong and it will always be funny. Even something has harmless sounding as an afternoon alone in a rowboat could get Forrest stranded at sea for over three months.
The genius of Review comes from the decision to make it so the reviews themself don't exist in a continuity-free vacuum. This isn't some cartoony setting where everything that's torn down is built up again by the next episode. The stuff Forrest does for the show has actual consequences on his life that carry over and build up over the course of the show bringing a weight and a darkness to the show as Forrest's life gets worse and worse. When Forrest divorces his wife Suzanne (A terrific Jessica St. Clair) three episodes in, she doesn't forgive him and take him back after the review is over, instead he spends much of the show pining for her and hoping to win her back as she just grows more and more disappointed in him and the insanity he invites into his life. When Forrest attends that custody hearing in a Batman costume, Suzanne's lawyer has a whole list of reasons why Forrest is an unfit parent based solely on things Forrest has done for the show. When Forrest's actions end up somehow leading to the destruction of both of his father's (Max Gail) homes (Over two different episodes), he has to live out of his office for the rest of the season. When Forrest eventually murders someone for the show, he spends an episode in prison before getting released on bail (The upcoming 3rd season is apparently going to deal with his trial). Slowly but surely Forrest loses or alienates everyone that he cares about, is plunged into debt, and almost dies a dozen different times. The result is a show that's hard to watch but impossible to look away from, with a darkness that doesn't stop growing but never takes over completely. This is a comedy after all.
A lot of why the darkness of Review never becomes too much to take comes from Daly's performance as Forrest, a person who's as charmingly innocent and full of child-like wonder about what he does as he is selfish and woefully shortsighted. Over the course of the series Forrest does some horrible, horrible, horrible things for the show but he never becomes totally unlikeable thanks to Daly who makes Forest blissfully unaware that things are about to go terribly wrong until the second before it happens. That ignorance keeps the audience on Forrest's side and keeps them rooting for him to somehow break the cycle he insists on trapping himself in, even as he fails to do so time and time again. At the same time when Forrest does ruin his life or almost gets himself killed, you don't feel too badly because the show knows there's something incredibly arrogant about a middle-age white man insisting that he's somehow able to objectively rate life experiences and the show isn't afraid to show what a fool Forrest is. It's a tricky balance to manage but Daly pulls it off with aplomb, making Forrest into a much more complex character than he might be in lesser hands.
Ultimately what makes Review great is the same thing that makes all the best anti-hero shows great: a refusal let the protagonist off the hook for their horrible actions and a willingness to play with audience expectations and push them out of their comfort zone. Early on the show introduces Grant (James Urbaniak), Forrest's oily producer who manipulates Forrest every time Forrest has doubts about a review into going through with it and who has no apparent moral compass. Urbaniak plays the character with such expert sliminess that it becomes easy to buy into the idea that Forrest is some poor innocent sap being manipulated for the sake of ratings and prop up Grant as the show's villain. As the show goes on though, it becomes obvious that Grant's manipulation isn't to blame for Forrest's problems, Forrest is. Forrest is the one who created the show and chooses to follow absurdly narrow guidelines for how to go about interpreting and completing his assignments. Forrest is the one who ignores the concerns of his co-host A.J. (Megan Stevenson, the show's secret comic weapon), his father and everyone else because he thinks his work is important. Forrest is the one blind to the fact that objectively reviewing life experiences is impossible and his pain is not universal. Forrest is the one who refuses to say no time and time again in order to uphold the principles of the show and prioritizes those principles over everything else in his life. After his review of using a Magic 8 Ball to make all his decisions goes poorly, Forrest lambastes the idea of using an arbitrary system to make choices instead of following your gut instinct, but his entire life is beholden to the arbitrary system of Review, a system he can't back down from because doing so would expose how meaningless everything he does really is (A simple request to rate something six stars out of five is enough to trigger a near-existential crisis).
Review, like any anti-hero show isn't for everyone and even those with very high tolerance for cringe comedy will be sorely tested. Watching a man destroy his life over and over and over for no reason isn't always the most pleasant viewing experience and it's hard to describe why the show is so appealing. In the end, it probably comes down to how oddly joyful and fun the show is. Don't get me wrong, it's a very dark show and the situations get quite bleak, but it never feels like a bleak show, even when the show gets around to it's Murder review. The show takes great glee in the ridiculousness of what Forrest is doing and it never forgets an opportunity to add in some silliness to all the pain. From the complete ineffectualness of Forrest's unpaid College intern Josh (Michael Croner) and Josh's girlfriend Tina (Hayley Huntley) to Forrest's complete ignorance of how the internet works to the brilliant asides and reaction shots of A.J., there's always something to laugh at in this show. Even when Forrest is broken to his very core, you're excited to see what will happen next because the show doesn't forget how to have fun. So yes, Review's devotion to the anti-hero drama formula is what makes it interesting but the joy it brings to all of it's misery is what makes it special and what will keep it in the conversation of all-time great comedies for a very long time. Five stars.
"Life. It's literally all we have. But is it any good?"
I'm going to describe a TV show for you. A devoted family man chooses an unorthodox career path. Though his intentions could be considered somewhat noble, the actions he takes to further this career bring nothing but harm and destruction to himself and to everyone around him. Before long a body count starts building up and everything he does has an impending sense of doom. Yet, despite having every chance to change or get out, the man refuses to abandon course because he believes that what he's doing is too important to stop. Even as he stands to lose everything he keeps going, always apparently hitting rock bottom only to learn he still has a long ways down to go.
Sound familiar? You can find at least a part of the basic premise I described above in the majority of anti-hero dramas that have been so popular in the past few years. Without any of the details filled in, I could easily be talking about Breaking Bad. The key difference between the show I'm describing and all those anti-hero shows though? This one is also one of the funniest shows you'll ever watch, even as the feeling of dread kicks in. It's called Review and it's both familiar and unlike anything you've ever watched, a darkly hysterical look at human nature, the systems we trap ourselves in, and the subjective nature of criticism.
Created and adapted from an Australian TV Show by Andy Daly, Jeffrey Blitz, and Charlie Siskel, Review (Which starts it's abbreviated 3rd and final season in the U.S. tonight before premiering in Canada next week on MUCH) stars Daly as self-proclaimed "life reviewer" Forrest MacNeil. Forrest hosts "Review", a show-within-a-show where he reviews life experiences chosen from an apparently random system of viewer requests on a scale of 0.5 to 5 stars. The reviews range from small things like being racist, having a best friend, being the life of the party, and public speaking to more significant things like divorce, being buried alive, being a little person and going to space. No matter the size of the task though, the reviews almost always backfire on Forrest, wrecking havoc on his life and bringing pain on him and/or the people around him in all kinds of unexpected ways, which is where the fun and dread come into play. From having to attend a custody hearing in a Batman costume to getting lost at sea for three months to seeing an imaginary friend brutally shanked in prison, you can never predict how a review will go wrong for Forrest, only that it will go wrong and it will always be funny. Even something has harmless sounding as an afternoon alone in a rowboat could get Forrest stranded at sea for over three months.
The genius of Review comes from the decision to make it so the reviews themself don't exist in a continuity-free vacuum. This isn't some cartoony setting where everything that's torn down is built up again by the next episode. The stuff Forrest does for the show has actual consequences on his life that carry over and build up over the course of the show bringing a weight and a darkness to the show as Forrest's life gets worse and worse. When Forrest divorces his wife Suzanne (A terrific Jessica St. Clair) three episodes in, she doesn't forgive him and take him back after the review is over, instead he spends much of the show pining for her and hoping to win her back as she just grows more and more disappointed in him and the insanity he invites into his life. When Forrest attends that custody hearing in a Batman costume, Suzanne's lawyer has a whole list of reasons why Forrest is an unfit parent based solely on things Forrest has done for the show. When Forrest's actions end up somehow leading to the destruction of both of his father's (Max Gail) homes (Over two different episodes), he has to live out of his office for the rest of the season. When Forrest eventually murders someone for the show, he spends an episode in prison before getting released on bail (The upcoming 3rd season is apparently going to deal with his trial). Slowly but surely Forrest loses or alienates everyone that he cares about, is plunged into debt, and almost dies a dozen different times. The result is a show that's hard to watch but impossible to look away from, with a darkness that doesn't stop growing but never takes over completely. This is a comedy after all.
A lot of why the darkness of Review never becomes too much to take comes from Daly's performance as Forrest, a person who's as charmingly innocent and full of child-like wonder about what he does as he is selfish and woefully shortsighted. Over the course of the series Forrest does some horrible, horrible, horrible things for the show but he never becomes totally unlikeable thanks to Daly who makes Forest blissfully unaware that things are about to go terribly wrong until the second before it happens. That ignorance keeps the audience on Forrest's side and keeps them rooting for him to somehow break the cycle he insists on trapping himself in, even as he fails to do so time and time again. At the same time when Forrest does ruin his life or almost gets himself killed, you don't feel too badly because the show knows there's something incredibly arrogant about a middle-age white man insisting that he's somehow able to objectively rate life experiences and the show isn't afraid to show what a fool Forrest is. It's a tricky balance to manage but Daly pulls it off with aplomb, making Forrest into a much more complex character than he might be in lesser hands.
Ultimately what makes Review great is the same thing that makes all the best anti-hero shows great: a refusal let the protagonist off the hook for their horrible actions and a willingness to play with audience expectations and push them out of their comfort zone. Early on the show introduces Grant (James Urbaniak), Forrest's oily producer who manipulates Forrest every time Forrest has doubts about a review into going through with it and who has no apparent moral compass. Urbaniak plays the character with such expert sliminess that it becomes easy to buy into the idea that Forrest is some poor innocent sap being manipulated for the sake of ratings and prop up Grant as the show's villain. As the show goes on though, it becomes obvious that Grant's manipulation isn't to blame for Forrest's problems, Forrest is. Forrest is the one who created the show and chooses to follow absurdly narrow guidelines for how to go about interpreting and completing his assignments. Forrest is the one who ignores the concerns of his co-host A.J. (Megan Stevenson, the show's secret comic weapon), his father and everyone else because he thinks his work is important. Forrest is the one blind to the fact that objectively reviewing life experiences is impossible and his pain is not universal. Forrest is the one who refuses to say no time and time again in order to uphold the principles of the show and prioritizes those principles over everything else in his life. After his review of using a Magic 8 Ball to make all his decisions goes poorly, Forrest lambastes the idea of using an arbitrary system to make choices instead of following your gut instinct, but his entire life is beholden to the arbitrary system of Review, a system he can't back down from because doing so would expose how meaningless everything he does really is (A simple request to rate something six stars out of five is enough to trigger a near-existential crisis).
Review, like any anti-hero show isn't for everyone and even those with very high tolerance for cringe comedy will be sorely tested. Watching a man destroy his life over and over and over for no reason isn't always the most pleasant viewing experience and it's hard to describe why the show is so appealing. In the end, it probably comes down to how oddly joyful and fun the show is. Don't get me wrong, it's a very dark show and the situations get quite bleak, but it never feels like a bleak show, even when the show gets around to it's Murder review. The show takes great glee in the ridiculousness of what Forrest is doing and it never forgets an opportunity to add in some silliness to all the pain. From the complete ineffectualness of Forrest's unpaid College intern Josh (Michael Croner) and Josh's girlfriend Tina (Hayley Huntley) to Forrest's complete ignorance of how the internet works to the brilliant asides and reaction shots of A.J., there's always something to laugh at in this show. Even when Forrest is broken to his very core, you're excited to see what will happen next because the show doesn't forget how to have fun. So yes, Review's devotion to the anti-hero drama formula is what makes it interesting but the joy it brings to all of it's misery is what makes it special and what will keep it in the conversation of all-time great comedies for a very long time. Five stars.
Saturday, 11 March 2017
Riverdale: Chapter Seven: In A Lonely Place
-At it's core Riverdale isn't a deconstruction of Archie comics, it's a deconstruction of the idea of Archie Comics, built up over the course of it's over 75 year history. It takes the "idealized, make-believe TV version of the American Dream" that we associate with Archie, a world where squeaky-clean teenagers hang out at Malt shops, have innocent love triangles and get into wholesome mischief trying to solve their simple problems, and turns it on it's head, revealing that image for the unrealistic fantasy it's always been. Our core Archie characters (I.E. Anyone who isn't a parent) haven't been significantly changed. Archie still does whatever it takes to help his friends, Jughead still follows his own path, Betty is still down-to-earth and driven, Veronica is still sophisticated and glamorous, and so on. What's changed is their circumstances, the world around them has become darker and more dangerous than the platonic ideal of the comics, but also richer and more rewarding for the people watching them. Despite all the murder and insanity around them, Archie and the gang feel relatable, much more so than those happy, idealized versions that have dominated the imagination for so long. Riverdale isn't ignoring it's history, it's just rearranging it in a way that resonates with people today, and when it nods to that history with moments like Jughead's comic-inspired dream tonight, it makes the show that much more effective.
-That whole spiel was my way of saying how much I appreciated the opening dream sequence, particularly the costuming on everyone. Seriously that might be my favourite Riverdale moment to date. It even elevated the narration around it. And the way reality starts to creep in as idealized Archie is stabbed in the back (Can you tell Jughead is conflicted about what happened with Betty?) to end the dream before transitioning into the sequence of Jughead wandering the school he's been living in was masterful.
-Riverdale has been on a real upswing ever since Ms. Grundy left and that continues with In A Lonely Place. This episode doesn't have any crazy setpiece like Jason's memorial or the trip to the asylum (Though the dueling search/hunting parties for Polly early in the episode comes close) but it makes up for that with some serious character work for Jughead, Fred, and F.P., fleshing out some relationships and dynamics that sorely needed it while keeping things entertaining.
-In his first appearance, all Skeet Ulrich really got to do as F.P. was be imposing and threatening until the big twist that his character was Jughead's father, which came on the heels of the other twist that revealed Jughead was currently homeless. These two things seemed to suggest that Jughead and his father had an animosity-filled relationship but the truth turns out to be more complicated than that. Ulrich does a great job this week making F.P. into a tragic figure, a guy who wants to put his life together and get his family back, but just isn't strong enough to change. Cole Sprouse also gives his strongest performance to date as he gets across how much Jughead loves his dad, while still being angry for how much F.P. has screwed everything up. When F.P. shows up at the end of the episode drunk and ready to fight the sheriff before resolving to get clean in a couple months, you can just feel the heartbreak. A sense of regret and uncertainty hangs over every scene they share together and you really feel the weight of the situation.
-We also find out more about F.P. and Fred's history tonight as we learn that they used to be the best of friends before their big falling out. Fred has been kind of a snooze of a character so far (Though not as much as his son) but Luke Perry does great work tonight underlining the character's fundamental decency and the uneasiness he has about giving F.P. a second chance after all that's happened. It really drives home the idea of Fred as an older version of Archie, one who will do what it takes to help people in need but who has enough experience to recognize when he's dealing with a lost cause. It doesn't mean Fred's a bad guy, just a responsible one, even if Archie is right to be mad about how Fred's decision also left Jughead to "drown" also.
-My favourite thing Riverdale has done with the adult characters is establish a history between all of them that suggests they were once just like the Archie gang before assorted life decisions got in the way of that. We see it most clearly with Fred and Hermione's flirtation and Fred and J.P.'s history, but also in things like Hermione saying she'd do anything for Alice Cooper's daughters. It gives the sense that our heroes are part of a cycle and something much bigger than themselves. I'm really hoping that we get flashbacks to Fred and company's younger days at some point (Maybe with their children playing their younger selves to really drive home the parallels.). I feel that could be interesting.
-Archie didn't have a huge storyline this week, which is for the best. Archie is at his strongest as a character when he's a supporting player in other people's stories rather than holding down his own. Here his main goal in the episode is to help Jughead. There's a bit of conflict with Fred when he learns about Fred unceremoniously cutting F.P out of the company they started, but even that comes more out of a place of anger about Jughead's struggles than anything and it's easily resolved once he sees Fred lie to the sheriff to help Jughead. If only Archie could be mostly out of the spotlight every week.
-So after the big Betty/Jughead kiss last week, it's still kind of unclear to everyone (especially them) where things stand between them and the whole thing is really underplayed this week. That's a smart move. Also though the opening dream set up the idea that Jughead was betraying Archie, Archie didn't get jealous at all when he found out, nor did it defer his efforts to help Jughead. He even apologizes to Betty for not being around to support her like Jughead was That was good to see because Archie being jealous would have felt inorganic and made him pretty unlikeable, considering he hasn't had much interest in Betty to date anyways. Good move Riverdale writers.
-The one story beat that felt off about this episode was the revelation that Jughead spent time in juvenile detention six years back for trying to burn down Riverdale Elementary (He explains it as him just "playing with matches"). It comes out of nowhere to basically set up the "Fred saves the day and falsifies evidence" beats of the plot and winds up feeling like one complication too many. Sheriff Keller's interview with Jughead where he judges him based on his upbringing also seemed out of character for someone who's been characterized as much more reasonable and level-headed up to now. Maybe the pressure from the Blossom's is getting to him.
-After last episode ended with Polly escaping from the asylum, I figured she'd be kept off the board for a couple episodes while the show dealt with other stuff or spun it's wheels a bit. Instead not only is the question of her whereabouts answered by the half point of In A Lonely Place, but the end of the episode sets her up to be around for the rest of the season. This was surprising but also welcome. Tiera Skovbye is great in the role and I'm excited to see her bounce off the rest of the cast (Particularly her new roommates Veronica and Hermione) throughout the remainder of the season.
-After a week off, Cheryl was back with a vengeance this week as she mobilizes the masses against Polly Cooper only for things to take an abrupt turn when she learns that Polly's pregnant with Jason's baby. Cheryl's sudden turn into from wanting to lynch Polly to wanting to help her could seem abrupt and jarring but Madelaine Petsch is able to make it work by anchoring Cheryl's actions to her love of her brother that gives her arc some needed consistency. Everything Cheryl does in this episode from tweeting out that Polly killed Jason to telling Polly not to go to her parents when it becomes obvious they want to get rid of her and take the baby for themselves makes sense because we know how much Cheryl loves Jason and how desperate she is to get some kind of closure or some reminder of him.
-The first part of the episode promises a big Cooper v. Blossom war as everyone tries to find Polly but it gets quickly defused by Alice's church-side press conference, which is a bit of a let-down. At least we got the aforementioned dueling search/hunting parties scene out of it. That was a lot of fun. This episode also does a good job at comparing and contrasting the Coopers and Blossoms this episode as we see why neither of them would be good for Polly or the baby.
-The most unintentionally funny scene in the episode was the one where Cheryl found out about Polly's asylum escape because the Archie gang held a long conversation about a sensitive subject they all agreed should be kept from the Blossoms in the middle of a very public space full of people (Particularly Ginger, one of Cheryl's minions who's really good at blending into the background.). Really guys? Were you that shocked when the news leaked?
-Betty seems to be on weirdly fine terms with her parents (even if she doesn't trust them with Polly or the baby) considering that last week she literally accused them of murder.
-Veronica acts out against her mother this week as retribution for Hermione's actions last week. Whereas Veronica's anger felt pretty justified last week, her stubborn behavior this week felt overly juvenile and petty for the first part of the episode. It improves in the second part though when she reveals to Kevin, Josie, and Reggie the main reason she's upset about Hermione forging her signature. When the Lodge's lost everything, Hermione swore to her that they'd never be able to take her name, only to take it herself to act against the father Veronica's still loyal to. Even though partnering with Andrews Construction is the right decision, Hermione has seriously breached her daughter's trust. The eventual make-up scene between them also works as it shows that Veronica is willing to make concessions and accept her mother's involvement with Fred to an extent, something it didn't seem like she was willing to do earlier. Her being there to support her mother as she came clean to Hiram about Fred was also an effective button for that particular plotline.
-So when Veronica was planning her night out and telling Kevin that she needed dumb, disposable arm candy, was I the only one who thought she was going to invite Archie? I was glad she went with Reggie though as he's been in serious need of some screentime.
-Josie and Veronica are officially friends now after last week's episode, which hopefully means we'll finally start getting significant screentime for the character and more than the occasional spotlight she's been thrown up to this point.
-This Week in "Conspicuous Covergirl Product Placement": Lots of shots of Alice applying make-up as she prepares to speak in front of the church.
-Fred and J.P. used to be in a band called The Fredheads, which is amazing. Again, good week for Fred.
-So when exactly did Fred fire F.P. anyways? Was this a recent thing or did it happen a long time ago? Because it feels like Jughead being on the streets is a somewhat recent development, but both he and Archie were shocked to find out that Fred and F.P. started the company together and I feel that's something they would be aware of unless this happened ages ago.
-Is that Southside Serpent guy Kevin was flirting with ever going to show up again? Also are Fred, Jughead, and Archie aware of F.P.'s involvement in the Serpents? That part of F.P.'s life was not on display at all apart from a quick conversation with Hermione to close off the plot thread of them threatening her for more money.
-Murder Theory Corner: Hey, my hunch about F.P being involved in the destruction of Jason's car was right on the money . We still don't know why he did it though (Or why he took the jacket and is keeping it fairly visible) so I'm sticking to drugs. I doubt F.P. is the killer because years of avid TV watching has taught me to assume that every obvious killer candidate is a red herring. I guess Jughead's lack of an alibi is questionable but come on, Riverdale is not going to turn one of their most marketable characters with a 75-year history into a murderer. So I'm gonna stick with my Mayor McCoy theory until I have reason to doubt it.
-Bad news. The next new episode of Riverdale isn't until March 30th. Good news! The show got renewed for season 2 this week so we have at least another year of this ridiculous show.
-That whole spiel was my way of saying how much I appreciated the opening dream sequence, particularly the costuming on everyone. Seriously that might be my favourite Riverdale moment to date. It even elevated the narration around it. And the way reality starts to creep in as idealized Archie is stabbed in the back (Can you tell Jughead is conflicted about what happened with Betty?) to end the dream before transitioning into the sequence of Jughead wandering the school he's been living in was masterful.
-Riverdale has been on a real upswing ever since Ms. Grundy left and that continues with In A Lonely Place. This episode doesn't have any crazy setpiece like Jason's memorial or the trip to the asylum (Though the dueling search/hunting parties for Polly early in the episode comes close) but it makes up for that with some serious character work for Jughead, Fred, and F.P., fleshing out some relationships and dynamics that sorely needed it while keeping things entertaining.
-In his first appearance, all Skeet Ulrich really got to do as F.P. was be imposing and threatening until the big twist that his character was Jughead's father, which came on the heels of the other twist that revealed Jughead was currently homeless. These two things seemed to suggest that Jughead and his father had an animosity-filled relationship but the truth turns out to be more complicated than that. Ulrich does a great job this week making F.P. into a tragic figure, a guy who wants to put his life together and get his family back, but just isn't strong enough to change. Cole Sprouse also gives his strongest performance to date as he gets across how much Jughead loves his dad, while still being angry for how much F.P. has screwed everything up. When F.P. shows up at the end of the episode drunk and ready to fight the sheriff before resolving to get clean in a couple months, you can just feel the heartbreak. A sense of regret and uncertainty hangs over every scene they share together and you really feel the weight of the situation.
-We also find out more about F.P. and Fred's history tonight as we learn that they used to be the best of friends before their big falling out. Fred has been kind of a snooze of a character so far (Though not as much as his son) but Luke Perry does great work tonight underlining the character's fundamental decency and the uneasiness he has about giving F.P. a second chance after all that's happened. It really drives home the idea of Fred as an older version of Archie, one who will do what it takes to help people in need but who has enough experience to recognize when he's dealing with a lost cause. It doesn't mean Fred's a bad guy, just a responsible one, even if Archie is right to be mad about how Fred's decision also left Jughead to "drown" also.
-My favourite thing Riverdale has done with the adult characters is establish a history between all of them that suggests they were once just like the Archie gang before assorted life decisions got in the way of that. We see it most clearly with Fred and Hermione's flirtation and Fred and J.P.'s history, but also in things like Hermione saying she'd do anything for Alice Cooper's daughters. It gives the sense that our heroes are part of a cycle and something much bigger than themselves. I'm really hoping that we get flashbacks to Fred and company's younger days at some point (Maybe with their children playing their younger selves to really drive home the parallels.). I feel that could be interesting.
-Archie didn't have a huge storyline this week, which is for the best. Archie is at his strongest as a character when he's a supporting player in other people's stories rather than holding down his own. Here his main goal in the episode is to help Jughead. There's a bit of conflict with Fred when he learns about Fred unceremoniously cutting F.P out of the company they started, but even that comes more out of a place of anger about Jughead's struggles than anything and it's easily resolved once he sees Fred lie to the sheriff to help Jughead. If only Archie could be mostly out of the spotlight every week.
-So after the big Betty/Jughead kiss last week, it's still kind of unclear to everyone (especially them) where things stand between them and the whole thing is really underplayed this week. That's a smart move. Also though the opening dream set up the idea that Jughead was betraying Archie, Archie didn't get jealous at all when he found out, nor did it defer his efforts to help Jughead. He even apologizes to Betty for not being around to support her like Jughead was That was good to see because Archie being jealous would have felt inorganic and made him pretty unlikeable, considering he hasn't had much interest in Betty to date anyways. Good move Riverdale writers.
-The one story beat that felt off about this episode was the revelation that Jughead spent time in juvenile detention six years back for trying to burn down Riverdale Elementary (He explains it as him just "playing with matches"). It comes out of nowhere to basically set up the "Fred saves the day and falsifies evidence" beats of the plot and winds up feeling like one complication too many. Sheriff Keller's interview with Jughead where he judges him based on his upbringing also seemed out of character for someone who's been characterized as much more reasonable and level-headed up to now. Maybe the pressure from the Blossom's is getting to him.
-After last episode ended with Polly escaping from the asylum, I figured she'd be kept off the board for a couple episodes while the show dealt with other stuff or spun it's wheels a bit. Instead not only is the question of her whereabouts answered by the half point of In A Lonely Place, but the end of the episode sets her up to be around for the rest of the season. This was surprising but also welcome. Tiera Skovbye is great in the role and I'm excited to see her bounce off the rest of the cast (Particularly her new roommates Veronica and Hermione) throughout the remainder of the season.
-After a week off, Cheryl was back with a vengeance this week as she mobilizes the masses against Polly Cooper only for things to take an abrupt turn when she learns that Polly's pregnant with Jason's baby. Cheryl's sudden turn into from wanting to lynch Polly to wanting to help her could seem abrupt and jarring but Madelaine Petsch is able to make it work by anchoring Cheryl's actions to her love of her brother that gives her arc some needed consistency. Everything Cheryl does in this episode from tweeting out that Polly killed Jason to telling Polly not to go to her parents when it becomes obvious they want to get rid of her and take the baby for themselves makes sense because we know how much Cheryl loves Jason and how desperate she is to get some kind of closure or some reminder of him.
-The first part of the episode promises a big Cooper v. Blossom war as everyone tries to find Polly but it gets quickly defused by Alice's church-side press conference, which is a bit of a let-down. At least we got the aforementioned dueling search/hunting parties scene out of it. That was a lot of fun. This episode also does a good job at comparing and contrasting the Coopers and Blossoms this episode as we see why neither of them would be good for Polly or the baby.
-The most unintentionally funny scene in the episode was the one where Cheryl found out about Polly's asylum escape because the Archie gang held a long conversation about a sensitive subject they all agreed should be kept from the Blossoms in the middle of a very public space full of people (Particularly Ginger, one of Cheryl's minions who's really good at blending into the background.). Really guys? Were you that shocked when the news leaked?
-Betty seems to be on weirdly fine terms with her parents (even if she doesn't trust them with Polly or the baby) considering that last week she literally accused them of murder.
-Veronica acts out against her mother this week as retribution for Hermione's actions last week. Whereas Veronica's anger felt pretty justified last week, her stubborn behavior this week felt overly juvenile and petty for the first part of the episode. It improves in the second part though when she reveals to Kevin, Josie, and Reggie the main reason she's upset about Hermione forging her signature. When the Lodge's lost everything, Hermione swore to her that they'd never be able to take her name, only to take it herself to act against the father Veronica's still loyal to. Even though partnering with Andrews Construction is the right decision, Hermione has seriously breached her daughter's trust. The eventual make-up scene between them also works as it shows that Veronica is willing to make concessions and accept her mother's involvement with Fred to an extent, something it didn't seem like she was willing to do earlier. Her being there to support her mother as she came clean to Hiram about Fred was also an effective button for that particular plotline.
-So when Veronica was planning her night out and telling Kevin that she needed dumb, disposable arm candy, was I the only one who thought she was going to invite Archie? I was glad she went with Reggie though as he's been in serious need of some screentime.
-Josie and Veronica are officially friends now after last week's episode, which hopefully means we'll finally start getting significant screentime for the character and more than the occasional spotlight she's been thrown up to this point.
-This Week in "Conspicuous Covergirl Product Placement": Lots of shots of Alice applying make-up as she prepares to speak in front of the church.
-Fred and J.P. used to be in a band called The Fredheads, which is amazing. Again, good week for Fred.
-So when exactly did Fred fire F.P. anyways? Was this a recent thing or did it happen a long time ago? Because it feels like Jughead being on the streets is a somewhat recent development, but both he and Archie were shocked to find out that Fred and F.P. started the company together and I feel that's something they would be aware of unless this happened ages ago.
-Is that Southside Serpent guy Kevin was flirting with ever going to show up again? Also are Fred, Jughead, and Archie aware of F.P.'s involvement in the Serpents? That part of F.P.'s life was not on display at all apart from a quick conversation with Hermione to close off the plot thread of them threatening her for more money.
-Murder Theory Corner: Hey, my hunch about F.P being involved in the destruction of Jason's car was right on the money . We still don't know why he did it though (Or why he took the jacket and is keeping it fairly visible) so I'm sticking to drugs. I doubt F.P. is the killer because years of avid TV watching has taught me to assume that every obvious killer candidate is a red herring. I guess Jughead's lack of an alibi is questionable but come on, Riverdale is not going to turn one of their most marketable characters with a 75-year history into a murderer. So I'm gonna stick with my Mayor McCoy theory until I have reason to doubt it.
-Bad news. The next new episode of Riverdale isn't until March 30th. Good news! The show got renewed for season 2 this week so we have at least another year of this ridiculous show.
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