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Reviews
The Idol: Jocelyn Forever (2023)
What the hell was that?
Half-baked story-telling here fails an already poor season. The characterizations were thin all season long, and yet, the decision-making in how this finale started vs how it ended up was still absolutely baffling - "hiding the bag" from
the audience to end on a "gotcha" moment is the kind of cheap nonsense I can't stand.
This was truly a show that had nothing to say all along. It wasn't an examination of celebrity or an unpacking of trauma, it was just a vanity project that ended up proving that "The Weeknd" can't act or write for television.
Easily the worst thing I've seen come out of HBO.
Dexter: New Blood: Sins of the Father (2022)
Emotionally satisfying
Whether you loved the episode or not, if you're honest with yourself, this does not deserve a ONE out of 10.
The episode isn't flawless, but it arrives at an ending that feels true and inevitable for the character of Dexter Morgan - he's a significant net positive for the world, but to those around him, he is an infinite negative due to the collateral damage caused by his hundreds of kills over the years.
Dexter tries to tell himself that he's doing a good thing, and can be a dad/friend etc, but he knows (and acknowledges at the end of the episode) that the best thing he can do for his family and friends, is to leave them alone.
Mr Inbetween: I'm Not Leaving (2021)
Stunning Achievement
On the heels of a brilliant penultimate episode, we got a breathtaking finale to one of tv's little known gems.
Ray deals with the emotional fallout of the previous episode in the way he feels is best, but he's made enough enemies along the way that things take an "inconvenient" turn. The result being that we end up being treated to an incredible, pulse-pounding action sequence that reinforces just how competent Ray is in this illicit line of work.
The show's closing moments leave us with a note of slight ambiguity, but knowing what we know about Ray, there's really only one potential outcome.
Scott Ryan handled the 3 seasons of this show with such a deft touch. This could've easily become a hyper-violent show that lost the plot along the way (looking at you Sons of Anarchy), but the emotional state of our protagonist is just too carefully considered by our star/creator to let that happen.
The humour and "slice of life" moments that sucked me into the show in season 1 continued to exist all the way to the end even as the tone got darker, and these moments are ultimately what make the show most memorable and different from the glut of other "anti-hero" dramas that pervade our premium cable/streaming offerings.
I'm fully in the bag for whatever Scott Ryan does next - hopefully FX realizes what they had with this show and give him a generous offer to continue working together.
Mr Inbetween: I'll See You Soon (2021)
A breaking point is reached
You just knew with how the previous episode ended, and with this being the penultimate for the series, that there were going to be some serious fireworks in this one.
Not going to go into specifics - but the season long internal struggle that has been building inside of Ray culminates in a pretty devastating final scene.
The writing and lead performance by Scott Ryan are matched by few other shows currently on television. I'm going to miss this show when it's all over next week.
Warrior: Enter the Dragon (2020)
Masterpiece
Masterpiece episode of one of the best shows on tv right now.
It was beautifully directed and choreographed as always, but of course the thing that stands out is how a show this pulpy and violent, and more of what I'd consider "fun" than particularly deep, can pull off something so emotionally raw and powerful.
It's heartbreaking to see people pay the price for doing the right thing, as we saw with a particular character in this episode - his fate was due entirely to circumstances out of his control. The show is so good at conveying the inflammatory nature of racial tensions in America. While we've come a long way as a society since the 1870's, there is still a long way to go.
For a similar experience, please watch The Knick and once you've seen the episode titled "Get the Rope", you will be similarly in awe.
We need a season 3 of this great show.