Why Ray Donovan Is Destroying Peak TV

In an essay I published earlier this year, I put forth the idea  that, for better or worse, the era of Peak TV is linked with the rise of the anithero. However, the reason that many of these series don't have huge audiences is that, for every Breaking Bad or Mad Men, there are at least three or four Chicago P.D.  or Sons of Anarchy, series with leads that could be antiheroes, but are really just despicable people who do bad things with no real goal in mind. And nowhere has this ever been more clear than with the series that seems to epitomize scum than Showtime's Ray Donovan.

There are many, many problems with this series, but to try and list them all would sound like a litany, so I'll limit my complaints by sticking to the problems with the title character.  First of all, there's his job. On more than one occasion, I have said that Olivia Pope is basically Ray Donovan with a better wardrobe. There is, however, one key element that raises her marginally above Ray. At least, in Olivia Pope's world, there is at least the facade that by covering up the crimes and misdemeanors that the powerful do, she is trying to hold on to the idea that the people need to believe that their politicians are above reproach if the system is to work. (Of course, that was before she started rigging elections and killing vice presidents, but let's set that aside for now) Ray's sole job is to make sure that the celebrities and power-brokers in Hollywood don't get sent to jail for doing the same horrible things, which even the most liberal among us can only say isn't the same thing at all. In fact, given what we have learned about the level of sexual harassment and assaults that some of the most prestigious names in Hollywood have been responsible for, this is one area where more light needs to be shed, not less.

Second, there is the issue of Ray Donovan, the character. I was going to say 'the human being', but having watched the series on and off for five years, I have yet to see any truly human aspect to him. Hell, Dexter Morgan demonstrated more character growth in his relationships that Ray ever has. He doesn't have a single friend to speak of, he barely talks any more than he has to even members of his own family, he doesn't seem to have any interest in the field he works in, and whenever any question is asked him, he'll either lie or straight deny it. Now I know that Liev Schrieber is a great actor. I've seen him do impressive work in film and on stage. But Ray Donovan barely shows any range at all, even when it comes to changing the tenor of his voice. Some people may be drawn to this minimalism, I like my characters to show at least some emotion.

And he treats his family, who are supposedly the people he is doing this all for, with an equal amount of disdain. He's always hated his father, Mickey (and the way that this series has utterly wasted Jon Voight is another crime in itself) but as utterly contemptible as some of the crimes Mick's committed, it doesn't remotely justify how little he seems to care for everybody else.  Terry, who suffers from Parkinson's, and who has been Ray's most loyal confidant, barely gets more than tolerated, and its clear Ray has been using his gym to launder money - a move with almost got him sent to prison. Bunchy, a victim of sexual abuse in his youth, has been given little freedom for his life, and its clear Ray sees him as a burden. His son has been dealing with delinquent issues, and was willing to join the marines to get away from him. He has got to great lengths to sabotage every relationship his daughter had. And his treatment of Abby (Paula Malcomson, also wasted), his wife was loathsome, as he cheated on her throughout the series, and never really listened to her pleas for help. In an interview for the series, Eddie Marsan, who plays Terry said: "They (the Donovans) can't survive without each other, and yet they're utterly toxic with each other." Most of this is Ray's fault.

And this became even clearer this season, when Abby, who had been stricken with cancer last year, began a final descent. Ray utterly refused to accept her diagnosis, wouldn't listen to her decision not to continue treatment, had an affair with his next door neighbor while she was dying,  and then, in order to get her into a clinical trial, infected a patient with meningitis, only to learn that his daughter had helped Abby kill herself. He then spent the entire fifth season half drunk (its also pretty clear that Ray is an alcoholic), pushing every member of his family away, and not accepting any responsibility for anything he'd done. I imagine the partisans of this series (whoever they are, I don't know anybody who watches this show) will say there was some kind of redemption for him, in the fact that in the end, he helped that same kid receive treatment. I would remind those people that in order to do that,  they probably destroyed the doctor's reputation, which probably endangered or killed God knows how many people, and basically had Ray end up killing somebody.      No doubt, people will say he sold his soul. There was never one there.

This is a horrible, utterly without any redeeming features series, and yet, for reasons which boggle the mind, critics and some audiences do seem to like it. Liev Schreiber has been taking Emmy nominations away from any number of deserving actors, including fellow Showtime thespians Paul Giamatti and Michael Sheen. Now, I'll admit the Best Actor category is flooded with similar characters, but at least some of them are entertaining and have more of a range. I can't imagine what people see in Ray Donovan, the series or the lead.

And now, the show has been renewed for a sixth season, where the main difference is Ray will be operating out of New York, not Los Angeles. (He had to relocate when his reputation was made public in LA.)  But he showed absolutely no sign of either changing or even acknowledging he has to change. The main difference is he'll be working primarily for Sam Winslow, a studio head who, from the moment she met Ray, has been completely able to manipulate him to do what he wants. (One of the only enjoyable things about this series was watching Susan Sarandon tear into this role like a coyote into a T-Bone.)

All that Ray Donovan has ever been able to do is gather an immense number of great actors together, and waste their talents playing contemptible and horrible people. There's something grimly fascinating about the show, I admit, but its the fascination of a slow motion train wreck. The series will probably begin filming Season Six any day now. If I run to Liev Schreiber by chance in Manhattan, I'm going to walk up to him, and punch him in the face. It'll be worth it, even if I know from this series how good a brawler he is.

Homicide Episode Guide: The True Test

Written by Noel Behn; story by Tom Fontana and Noel Behn

Directed by Alan Taylor

                The detectives at Homicide haven’t yet had to investigate the murder of a teenager so far this season, which is odd considering how many young people get murdered in Baltimore. So Lewis and Bayliss are called into investigate the stabbing of another young African-American --- only this time the body didn’t fall on the streets but in a wealthy private school. Marshall Buchanan, the victim had been accepted on a scholarship in a school that doesn’t have a lot of blacks in it. In a more upper-class environment, his parents clearly hoped he’d  be ‘safe’.  Clearly they were wrong.

                From the beginning of this case, Bayliss is pissed off at the teachers and student body at this prep school. As we learn from him, this comes from something in his childhood. His cousin Jim (who we met in Season 3’s ‘Colors’) had dreamed of getting in and when he was turned down, a vital part of him was crushed. Bayliss has never been able to forgive that slight and it nettles him. Perhaps for that reason, he goes after the main suspect with more vengeance than per usual.

                That’s not to say that the main suspect doesn’t deserve it. McPhee Brodman, a seventeen-year old upperclassman is one of the cruelest characters we have ever met on Homicide. He is an egotistical, self centered, racist punk who taunts the detectives throughout the entire show. He seems to have the ability to manipulate younger students into doing various harsh and cruel things--- including Marshall’s murder. Former child star Elijah Wood (pre Lord of the Rings) gives one of the most unnerving performances on Homicide playing a teenager with no code of ethics at all.

                He thinks he’s above the law, and he has good reason for thinking so. His mother is Judge Susan Aandahl, a semi-recurring character we first met in season 4. In many ways, her blindness to the obvious cruelty of her son is even more frightening then McPhee’s actions. She knows that he is capable of violent actions--- he firebombed a car at age seven---  but as she puts it  she’s a judge, but she’s also a mother. In a private conversation she has with Bayliss, she admits that she is afraid of her son. Yet she is determined to protect her son, no matter what. This is revealed in the climax of the episode when McPhee reveals that he had Marshall murdered because he wouldn’t carry out an assignment--- his mother’s murder. The look on Sagan Lewis’s face when she hears this is one of pure shock--- yet minutes later, she is trying to get her son’s statement suppressed. One wonders if maybe McPhee won his duel with the detectives.

                Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this case occurs when Bayliss reveals that he admires the judge for standing by her son no matter what. This is a small crack in the hide of Bayliss, which has been getting tougher and tougher as the season progresses.

                Though the main focus of the show is on Secor and Clark Johnson, the writers do not forget to look in on the other two detectives who’ve had ongoing problems. In the course of this episode, Pembleton once again takes his firearms exam. This time he manages to pass and is finally allowed back on the street, even though he admits the real test is in the box. Things seem to be looking up for Frank--- but he’s not looking closely at his life. In a scene at the start of the episode, Mary Pembleton reveals that it hasn’t been easy dealing with her husband for the last month. Looking closely at it, Mary clearly sees that there are some problems in their marriage, which will come up again sooner than Frank realizes.

                In contrast, there is little brightness in Kellerman’s life.  The three other arson detectives under indictment have all copped pleas, insinuating that Mike, the only innocent man in the bunch,  is going to be the one hung out to dry. Even his own attorney thinks that he should plea out. Mike’s life is so crappy, he invites Brodie to stay with him on his boat, despite Munch’s warnings.

                The one bright spot for Mike occurs in the first act, when for the first time, he meets Dr. Cox. The two of them strike up a dialogue and its clear, there’s something there. The byplay involving Cox and Kellerman is peculiar, considering the heavy flirting that was going on between Juliana and Bayliss in the past three episodes. One wonders why Fontana suddenly changed directions on this, as it doesn’t seem to deal with the continuity of the show. Still Diamond and Forbes do have some chemistry, and it will continue to spark.

                For all the strengths of ‘The True Test’ (especially because it was the highest rated episode of Season 5) the episode isn’t quite up to the level of some of the other episodes. The acting is very high-caliber, yet the story itself seems a little less sound--- there aren’t a lot of seventeen-year- olds like McPhee in the world of Homicide, so it doesn’t have the same resonance despite Wood’s great work. However, it ends with a rare optimistic note for one of the characters, and hints that maybe better things are on the way, especially with Braugher going back on the street. It’s been good watching him recover, now seeing him back on the job has a lot of promise.

My score: 4 stars.

Janie The Virgin Season 4 Review

Ever since the days that the CW was once the WB, the powers that be at the Emmys have constantly denied it recognition in any major category. This was galling in the days when only the major networks would get nominations; it's absolutely moronic in an era when many of the series nominated aren't even on TV any more.  And right now, the cruelest victim of them all is one of the best shows on any network, Jane the Virgin.

The telenovela satire (which it acknowledges at least twice an episode) has been growing incredibly powerfully over the last year. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of TV, Jane's beloved husband Michael died from complications from the shooting in the third season premiere. The series has since moved forward three years, and Jane's baby Mateo is now nearly five years old. Her family situation has been sort of in a mix the last few months. Her mother Xo has finally married her father, telenovella star Rogelio (the always hysterical Jaime Camil), but have been unable to deal with a proper marriage because Rogelio's fist wife  (Justina Machado) has shown up very pregnant with Rogelio's child, and now they are trying to deal with a really complicated situation, especially now Patty has fallen in love with Rogelio great rival Esteban.

Things have not gotten any easier with Jane's baby daddy Rafael. In the third season finale, he was thrown out of his hotel and disinherited by his sister, Luisa. He has now spent the last three episodes trying to rebuild his fortune at the expense of everything else. For starters, he torched his relationship with Jane at the beginning of the season, which has become awkward since they are living together now. Then, his relationship with his ex-wife/other baby mama Petra (Yael Gregorias) fell apart when she told him she was isn't in love with him. And now, he's trying to having a fake relationship in order to buy his hotel back, which has the advantage both the other women in his life.

As for Jane (the incredible Gina Rodriguez), she is trying very hard to remain sane and self-centered, which has not been helpful by the fact that the first man she ever was love with, Adam, a comic book artist, has come back into her life and has determined to make her happy. Which makes even more complicated because Xo and her Abuela didn't exactly love him the first time, and aren't crazy about him now.

What makes all of this so brilliant is that this series never takes itself seriously. Realizing that the title has made no sense for the last year, half the fun now comes when it shows up and is edited. Narrator Anthony Mendes remains one of the most delightful treasures in the history of television, and they still find ways to make it remarkable. (In the season premiere, for example, they introduced Adam with his own narrator, and they spent the episode sniping at each other. And the series always seems to have throw away dialogue that will drive into hysterics. For example, in last night's episode, Rogelio was raging at one of the writers: "You can't introduce a new character three-fifths of the way through the series, and expect him the audience to love him!" The narrator then cut in: "Gee. I wonder what Adam's doing."

Jane the Virgin is arguably one of the cleverest, charming, and endearing series on television, and now it has been regulated to Friday nights, considered the dead zone of broadcast TV. Two of the best series on network television are on the CW Fridays,(the other, of course, is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and on their best days they get less than a million viewers combined. Jane has done well at the Golden Globes and the Critic Choice , but the Emmys still refuse to give it the time of day. And since both shows probably need the awards to survive, this is particularly cruel. Both series may survive til they reach their natural ends - this is, after all, a network that has been more than willing to renew both series despite their low ratings  - but I regret this because both series are among the truly exceptional accomplishments on any form of medium. Find the time in your DVR or Hula. Watch this show.  It should be noted that there's no reason not to.

My score: 4.5 stars.

Arrow Season 6 Review

The first - and by a considerable margin, the best of Berlanti's DC based series - has always been Arrow. But as good as it has been for the last five years, I honestly spent most of last summer dreading its return. The fifth season climaxed with the villain Oliver Queen spent all of last season fighting managing to blow up the island where he had been stranded the early years of his disappearance, with basically everybody he ever loved or cared for on it. I was therefore torn between needing to know what happened and wondering who'd survive. I was therefore grateful to learn that when Season 6 premiered the explosion had been less of a 'Red Wedding' and more of a 'Moldavia Massacre'.  (Google it.) Despite that, it did seem something of a cheat that the island explosion wasn't as fatal as it had appeared.

Which doesn't mean that things haven't gotten any easier for Oliver (Stephen Amell). One of the people who passed away was the mother of a son, he didn't know he'd had until a couple of years ago. Now he's trying to be a father on top of his duties as Mayor of Star City, a job that has not gotten any easier with a photo mailed to the FBI about him as the Green Arrow. A determined Bureau agent is trying to pin him down, and Arrow puts us in an interesting position by realizing that she isn't entirely wrong. Indeed, that very pursuit has forced Oliver to go against a move by his city council to start hunting down vigilantes and putting it to a citywide vote - something that never went particularly well when it happened before. More to the point, it has forced Oliver to make the decision to stop being the Arrow and hand over to the costume to his trusted friend John Diggle (David Ramsay). What he doesn't know is that his friend injured himself severely in the attack, and is now relying on illegal pain drugs to make sure he can get out in the field. It is inevitable that this will come back to bite John in the ass; the only question is when?

Of course, involved all this are the same kind of threats from within. One of the survivors of the attack was Black Siren, aka an alternate universe version of Laurel Lance. (Katie Cassidy is brilliant in playing the darker version of the character she played so well for four years) Her very survival is a threat to the team, and one wonders how much pain it is causing to Quentin (the always fascinating Paul Blackthorne), who ended up shooting her in the final episode. Who is she working for, and will she pose a greater threat?

Arrow has always been a good series, but what makes me feel that it might be on the verge of a better season is that it actually seems on the verge of letting go of its baggage. For one thing, the flashbacks to Oliver's past, which became increasingly pointless throughout the last two seasons, are finally done, which is a real weight off the series shoulders. For another, even though we know that Oliver will inevitably be drawn back into the world he's creating, its actually refreshing to see our hero dealing with the mundane problems of running the city, trying to be a good parent, and best of all, restarting his relationship with the series breakout character Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards rules! Olicity forever! Sorry, couldn't help myself.)  One knows that eventually new villains will come to darken Star City's doorstep - that's how Berlanti works, after all. (I'm actually looking forward to the arrival of Michael Emerson and Kirk Acevedo, though I still have no idea what characters they'll be playing). But this is  a change that is refreshing and fun, especially for a series that was really dark the last two years. A lot of CW series end up running well past their expiration date. Arrow is the first series I hope in awhile that well really do that.

My score:4.25 stars.

Riverdale Season 2 Review

The Archie comic book series has been one of the harder ones to quantify over its long run. Mostly a humorous story about high school, it has dabbled in all kinds of milieus over its over seventy-five years - supernatural, romantic drama, outright parody and slice of life. Perhaps that's the reason, while every other comic book and its uncle (including more than a few spin-offs from the Archie-verse) have been made into film and TV series, the Archie series itself has remained steadfastly untouched well into this millennium. That, and perhaps the fact, that's its overall tone has been so cheerful and optimistic that it really doesn't fit into with the cynicism of this century.

Which brings us to Riverdale. One couldn't help but think, throughout Season 1, that perhaps creator Roberto Aguirre-Sanchez had overcorrected to the point of insanity.  Beginning with the murder of Cheryl Blossom's twin brother Jason, Riverdale was stuck in darkness that even Twin Peaks wouldn't recognize. From Archie Andrews having an affair with a much younger Miss Grundy, to the motorcycle gangs and seedy underbelly of the title, all relayed by the dark narration of Jughead Jones (yes, you heard that right), much of what came was so unsettling to the point even by the level of darkness that surveys so many comic book series. It seems that Riverdale has a dark history that even True Detective would flinch at.

Not content with that level of darkness, the creators seemed to have doubled down as Season 2 unfolds.  Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) was shot in a fake-robbery in what has quickly become a string of attacks. Miss Grundy met her end at the conclusion of that episode, and Midge and Moose nearly got shot to death in Lover's Lane. The killer has now announced to the press (run by Betty's mother, played icily well by Madchen Amick) that he is here to bring about vengeance for the sins of the past. And its becoming very clear that the sins are obvious in this town. Veronica Lodge's father has been released from prison, and it appears that all of the signs of menace that her mother implied throughout Season 1 are very true, as he tried to take a hold on the Riverdale real estate market, and actually seems delighted by the murders that are happening.

Of course, all of this level of darkness has been weighing on the teenagers as well. Archie (KJ Apa) has become obsessed with the possibility that the killer is after him, and has started a neighborhood patrol, which is quickly becoming more menacing. Jughead, forced to relocate to a far poorer high school in the finale, has been fighting with his father's Serpent heritage (Skeet Ullrich continues to fascinate) as he learned when he tried to go it alone. And Betty (Lili Reinhart) who has been trying to recover from the revelations of last season is struggling with both her relationship with Jughead and her gay best friend Kevin.  Throw in the drug problem that is increasing, an attack on Pop's diner, and the ever darkening world that Cheryl seems to be fading into, and Riverdale seems to be reaching for a level of murkiness that not even the latter season of Buffy did.

But for all of the darkness and grime - hell, maybe even because of it - Riverdale remains one of the most fascinating series the network has on the air. Indeed, the comparison to Buffy is well met at times, given the level of pop culture references, seedy underbelly, and very dreamy leads. I can't imagine that any of the Archie fans who have been reading the series will recognize, much less want to watch this version of the town. Yet I think that very daring it what lends the show its spark. It bares almost no resemblance to the comic book that generations grew up reading, but that very radical difference makes it, paradoxically, far more original then so many series on TV.

My score: 4 stars.

CW Retrospective: Supergirl

I am not one of those mad literalists who thinks that any adaptation needs to be absolutely wedded to its source material in order to be successful and more importantly, enjoyable. I've seen more than my share of TV adaptations of popular books and movies that have come to be far and above the material they came from. One need not look any further than Buffy or Justified to see projects that have become far more outstanding than they the work they came from.

I also share this same feeling towards comic books, mainly because, not having viewed most of the original source material, I don't care how close it has to stick to it. I realize that I am in a minority when it comes to this, but honestly I feel that, like so many other projects, comics could use a push away from their origin stories if they are to survive in the modern era.  What I care more for is entertainment, not viewing DC and Marvel as if they were the Bible.

Which brings me to Greg Berlanti, the man who has been more responsible than anyone for making the CW a success story. He has gone above and beyond in making many of the second string superheroes of the DC-verse far more appealing than some of the more recent adaptations on film. But the problem is, he sometimes gets too stuck on message than entertainment, and nowhere is that more apparent then Supergirl.

Now, let's be honest, with all the comic book adaptations out there, television was crying out for a series with a female lead. And by far, the best thing about Supergirl is the title character. Melissa Benoist does a fine job making Kara Danvers, Superman's cousin, a far more realistic person with insecurities and flaws than so many of the others. It can be fun watching the Girl of Steel fight villains twice her size, as well as try to deal with her place in the world in National City. And as long as the stories were entertaining, I honestly could give a damn about how far away the series was from its source material. I didn't care that Jimmy Olsen (Mechad Brooks) was now African-American or that Kara's sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) was now a lesbian. As long as the stories were engaging,  who cared?

The problem is that the messages behind the show got heavy-handed. Now this is nothing uncommon to Berlanti's series. The difference is on Arrow, and to an extent, The Flash, watching the characters work through all of their issues was much of the fun, and the message delivery was subtle. In Supergirl, the message is far more heavy handed and has less entertainment value as a reward. This was particular clear when it was revealed in last season's finale that the President of the United States was actually an alien. It came as a climax to many heavy handed message about xenophobia and the upper class throughout the second season, that were neither as clever or as entertaining at the writers thought.

As the third season unfolds, Supergirl has managed to lighten up on the heavy hand material. Unfortunately, its ideas for new storylines aren't particularly original either. We've got another evil billionaire, Morgan Edge. We've got Lex Luthor's sister, Lena purchasing Catco, and trying to be friends with Kara. And we've got this mysterious woman who seems to have some superpower that only her young daughter truly suspects. Intriguing ideas - except they were all done on Smallville, and its not that encouraging that Berlanti is now borrowing from another CW show. Granted, it was a hit, but one that took a long time building up to be a great series.

Supergirl is not a bad series, especially compared with what Fox and ABC offer as comic book derivations. The performances are generally better, particularly Dorian Harewood, as head of the DEO/Martian Manhunter. But its by far the weakest of the Berlanti DC series, and its not clear that its found a serious foundation. after two years.  It needs more power than its title character seems capable of providing.

My score: 2.5 stars.

Homicide Episode Guide: The Heart of Saturday Night

Written by Henry Bromell

Directed by Whit Stillman

                As I have mentioned previously, one of the reasons Homicide  was such a brilliant show was because of how it dealt with that most painful of emotions: grief. Considering how well they had handled the feeling in such brilliant episodes as ‘Every Mother’s Son’ or ‘A Doll’s Eyes’, you wouldn’t think there were any more that they could mine from this subject. ’Heart of a Saturday Night’ proves them wrong.

                Once again we see the effect of murder on the bereaved. This time, however, we see it from a different angle: the way that those left behind try to deal with their emotions.  In this case, writer Henry Bromell shows a group therapy session for the survivors of three recent murders, which all took place on the same Saturday night. In a homage to the shows old look, all of the present-day therapy sessions are filmed in harsh decolorized images, while the flashbacks to the Homicide Squad are all in full color. The bleached-out look fits the therapy session— a vital part of their lives has been drained from it, never to return.

                The survivors are four very different people--- a young accountant whose wife was killed in a carjacking, a young woman whose husband died in a bar brawl, and the very late middle-aged parents  of a wild teenager who was raped and strangled. All are dealing with their grief differently but some emotions are common to all of them. They are all angry but their anger is directed as different people. The husband’s anger is directed towards the killer who was never caught. The parents of the teenager are angry at each other--- both of them still have very divergent views of their daughter. The wife is angry at her dead husband--- he was a pretty lousy person who she was working up the courage to leave, but now will never be able to. They are also feeling an intense pain that will never truly end, and whether or not the killer was caught, or if they had people to support them, they may never be able to find peace.

                The detectives at the squad are all feeling their own kind of pain. Pembleton and Kellerman are still chained to their desks and are going through the agony pf being treated as furniture. You’d think that this link would bond them but Frank, as we all know, doesn’t bond. Mike takes some of his frustration out on Frank and says some pretty mean things, but in the end the two form a kind of fragile bond dealing with their problems.

                Lewis and Munch have their own set of problems. The carjacking case is a dud and they both know it, and they spend much of their investigation looking for the victim’s three year old who was in the car when it was taking. In a rare moment of kindness the baby is alive. But there are even worse problems ahead for them--- the bar brawl that led to the second death took place in the Waterfront.

Another man going through his own kind of agony is Lieutenant

Giardello. For reasons that are not initially clear, he assigns himself to investigation the bar brawl rather than Howard.  Through his own persistence, he manages to close the murder. When Howard asks him why, he went to such trouble, he tells her that he is still feeling guilty for killing a man when he went out on the street in last season’s ‘The Wedding’. For him this is his way of proving to himself that he is still good police. However, it is clear that even this success will never take the sting away.

                Frank is also trying to prove he’s still got it. Even though he is stuck to his desk, he helps Bayliss identify the third victim. Then, through a thorough interview with the kids who found the body, he manages to track down the man who killed her. Frank still isn’t all the way back but he’s getting there, step by step.

But without question, the most shocking revelation occurs with Dr. Cox

when she appears at the same therapy session as the other survivors.  It turns out that her father’s death was not from the result of an illness. In fact, he was the victim of a car accident when an aggressive and unidentified driver forced him off the road. Considering how long he lingered after the accident, it’s a little hard to believe that his death was a ‘murder’ but no matter what you call it, there is no doubt that Cox is still in a lot of pain. Of all the survivors, she has found the best way of dealing with her loss through her kind of detachment as an M.E. But, as we will find out soon, this detachment costs her a great deal and makes her react in ways that are not always healthy.

                Even for an episode of Homicide, this episode requires that a great deal of attention must be paid. By switching between flashbacks and current events, the viewers have to work hard to understand what is going on. It is a credit to the show that Bromell believed that this was something that the average viewer, often demeaned by other television shows, could manage to do. The directors of Homicide often have difficult tasks, and it is due  to the fine work of  Whit Stillman, director of critically acclaimed, low budget films such as Metropolitan and Barcelona that have the same kind of emotions and thoughtfulness of Homicide. The guest actors are also up to the material, particularly Rosanna Arquette and Chris Eigeman, two of the more underrated actors in Hollywood.

                ‘The Heart of a Saturday Night’ ultimately doesn’t have the same emotional impact such as ‘Bop Gun’ or ‘Every Mother’s Son’, mainly because the action follows so many different plots that the ultimate effect very slightly reduces the emotional impact. But the pain for all of the survivors is real, and it comes through the screen loud and clear. Grief does not go away, whether or not there is closure, whether or not you have someone to support you. And some scars from emotional damage never go away.

My score: 4.5 stars.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Review

Of all the fascinating programs this very underrecognized network puts on the air, by far the best - as well as one of the most original programs ever devised for any network - is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Centered around the adventures of Rebecca Bunch (the incomparable Rachel Bloom),  a very neurotic attorney who has changed her entire life because of her obsession with her incredibly dim teenage crush Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III), with each season Rebecca comes a lot closer to living up to the 'crazy' part of the title.

Granted, what happened at the end of Season 2 would probably unhinge a far saner woman than Rebecca. Having finally gotten engaged to Josh halfway through the season, he then proceeded to leave her at the altar, not for another woman, but for the priesthood. She basically came close to throwing herself off a cliff, but has now decided to devote her entire focus to having revenge on Josh.

 Unfortunately, the same problems that made her so incompetent when it came to wooing Josh in the first place make her equally unfit to try revenge.  So far, she tried to film a sex tape with an actor playing Josh (also Rodriguez) but then, she attempt to actually have sex with him, and blew that up. Her best friend Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin) tried to convince her to sue Josh for breach of promise, but that didn't satisfy her. She then tried to engage in a very elaborate (and ludicrously sketched Fifty Shades of Grey parody) revenge plot with her boss Nathaniel, but his plan for revenge was too brutal (get his father deported, have his grandfather taken off life support, etc.) So she finally confronted Josh at his parish about what he at done to her (in her wedding dress). And told him every crazy thing she'd done. This made Josh, who'd only joined the priesthood  because he didn't know how to deal with Rebecca, realize that this wasn't his fault, and now he can leave. But Rebecca felt better. Until she realized what she'd told him.

This is much funnier then it sounds. What makes it the most remarkable series on broadcast TV is the fact that all of this is a musical, with every song written or co-written by Bloom. In the most recent episode alone, Josh did a Gene Kelly type song and dance number called 'Head in the Clouds', in which he celebrated taking the veil, Rebecca did a Chicago style song in which she seduced Nathaniel into her revenge, ended in a striptease, she had a particularly remarkable ballad in which she sang out/confessed her crazy sins to Josh, and there was a Les Miserables style number in which an extra basically sang a number in which he realized his wife was using a vibrator. This last one had no relation to anything to do with the plot, but the fact that it was there, along with the buildup and the climax (so to speak) is just one of the many things that makes Crazy Ex-Girlfriend so incredible.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of the most outstanding series on television, period. But nobody knows it exists, or at least watches it on the night it airs. The Emmys have chosen to ignore it (though every other award show has given it some recognition), and its on Friday nights, a dead zone for any TV series.  The fact that the series has made into Season 3 is astounding, considering how low its ratings are, even for a CW series. But Rachel Bloom is a force of nature, who can make anything entertaining. (If this series doesn't convince you, watch her work the Tonys or the Emmys). And I don't know of any other actress who would be willing to so much to humiliate herself for a laugh since the glory days of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Will this series manage to make it to a fourth season? I think that's an even harder question to answer than if Rebecca will ever find peace. But as long as this series is on the air, I will celebrate it, and hope like hell the world manages to find the time to watch it as well.

My score: 4.75 stars

Mr. Robot Season 3 Review

One of the few unpleasant surprises of last season's Emmys was how one of the most acclaimed series of 2015, USA's Mr. Robot, ended up being virtually shutout. It's not like series of a dystopian future had become passe - witness Black Mirror and Handmaid's Tale as the most prominent examples. Perhaps people had thought the series had succumbed to the inevitable sophomore slump. I was not one of those critics. If anything, I thought the series was willing to be even more daring than it had been in its remarkable debut season - keeping major characters offscreen for almost all the series run, showing even more surreal teasers than it had in the first year, and giving one of the more shocking twists of all of 2016 - that Elliot spent most of that season in a prison for a lesser charge.

Now that the third season has begun, Mr. Robot seems even more determined to delve into darkness. The 5/9 hack that Elliot and the Dark Army helped instigate has nearly crashed economic society across the globe. And Elliot (Rami Malek, incredible as always) who took a bullet from Tyrell Willick at the climax of Season 2, has finally realized that he is responsible and determined to fix what he has done. After calling off the start of 'Stage 2' - which we now know is the destruction of all of ECorp's physical records -  he implored Angela (Portia Doubleday) to get him a job at ECorp where he can make physically change all the wrongs he created. Of course, that also includes using his hacking skills to get rid of the middle management that doesn't want to change, and removing all of the corrupt and well, evil, people who are behind the curtain.

Of course, Elliot doesn't know a lot. For example, he thinks that 'Mr. Robot' (Christian Slater, using his overacting skills for good) was killed when Tyrell shot him. But now it appears that he and Elliot have merged and have now become more of a traditional disassociate personality. He now comes out whenever Elliot is gone. He doesn't know that Angela has decided to work with the Dark Army - and by extension, Mr. Robot, to carry out Stage 2.  He doesn't know that his sister Darlene (Carly Chaykin) has decided to work with the FBI in stopping the hack (Grace Gummer continues to shine) He doesn't know that White Rose (B D Wong, finally promoted to series regular) the head of Dark Army is using him and Angela, and plans to kill them both when the hack is completed. Which may be a lot sooner than any of them know.  What he does know is that his job may not be over. Which is why in the last minutes of last night's episode, he showed up on the FBI's doorstep.

Mr. Robot remains one of the darkest series ever created for any network, particularly one like USA, which until recently has mainly been known for cheerful romps.  Of course, like almost every series with some kind of mythology, there always seem to be more questions than answers? How did Elliot get involved in the Dark Army in the first place? Where was Tyrell Willick all of last season? Who is the man who appears to be a fixer for these people? (Bobby Cannavale, doing some of his best work since his turn on Nurse Jackie.) And once you've done something as dark and penetrating as the 5/9 hack, is there any going back for civilization?  There are many dystopian series these days, but Mr. Robot remains by far the best, because it's stuck so vividly in the now rather than some all-too close future. No matter what your political leanings are, this is a series that will speak to you. And leave questions far more frightening than any zombies or alien invasion might.

My score: 4 .75 stars.

Ten Days In The Valley Review

From 2005 to 2011, Kyra Sedgwick portrayed one of the most unforgettable female characters in the history of television: Brenda Leigh Johnson on TNT's The Closer. Masking the ruthlessness of a Grand Inquisitor in a Georgia accent, Brenda ran the Major Crimes Division of the LAPD, determined to get confessions out of the darkest killers. And even if you felt, like I did, that her character stepped over the line so many times that you almost felt it was unrealistic, the fact remains that her devotion to her craft was one of the most engaging work over the past decade. (That is made all the clear considering that the series spinoff Major Crime, a show that featured all The Closer's regulars except Sedgwick is, on its best day, a pale imitation of that series.)

Sedgwick has been making a gradual return to TV over the past three years, and now she returns to series TV on ABC's Ten Days in the Valley. She plays Jane Sadler, a former journalist turned showrunner for a TV cop drama set in LA. Apparently having it altogether, her entire life is a mess. Her marriage has ended in a horrid divorce, she's having an affair with the source of her latest story, and she's currently addicted to cocaine. The only good thing in her life is her six-year old daughter, and when she collapses in a drug-induced stupor one night, her daughter disappears.

If Sedgwick was trying for a role that was the complete polar opposite from Brenda, she could not have chosen a more perfect part. Crisis brings out the worst in Jane in a way that would never handle Brenda. Knowing better than most how critical it is to be truthful, her first instinct is to turn on her ex-husband for violating his custody agreement. She lies about the probable timeline to the police, continues to focus on her job rather than her family, and is more concerned about her drug dealer not getting found out that finding her daughter. And yet there are moments - such as a brilliant one when Jane, now at work, talks down a hypersensitive cast member about a scene she doesn't like - that paint a complete different picture. Sedgwick is exceptional.

Nothing else about Ten Days is nearly as good, and that's a major disappointment. The conceit is an interesting one - its a ten episode series, each episode equally one day in the investigation. There are also some interesting constructs - the possibility that the kidnapping could be blowback from the police investigation. And the cast is populated with actors I personally admire, doing vastly different roles than what we're used to from them. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, best known for playing Nigerian thugs on Oz and Lost plays the lead investigator Detective Bird (using a flawless American Accent, no less). Erika Christensen, who I thought was consistently Emmy worthy as Julia Braverman on Parenthood, plays a similar role here as Jane's sister. And Malcolm-Jamal Warner, whose career has been heading into darker territory over the last few years, is intriguing as Matt Walker, the head writer on the show Jane is running.

There's nothing wrong with any of these performances or writing, but there's nothing particularly remarkable about them, either. Similar ideas have been pursued on recent procedurals like Murder in the First or Secrets and Lies. And you have the idea there might well be similar problem if Ten Days makes it to Season 2 - it works once, but it leaves the series with nowhere to go. And if they do try to extend the kidnapping into a second season - like they did with the first two years of The Killing - its runs the risk of dissatisfying the fanbase. (Assuming there is one; early ratings for this show have been lukewarm.)

None of this makes this series a particularly bad one - as I mentioned, Sedgwick's work is superb, and the other performances are fairly good. And there certainly are enough twists and turns that might make the series more interesting as it plays out. But the fact is television - and broadcast TV in particular - is so crowded with serialized procedurals that in order to justify another one, it has to be really remarkable. Ten Days in the Valley isn't, and I just think the writers are exposing so much of their hand early on that it may be hard to justify staying with it beyond, well, ten days.

My score: 3.25 stars.

Homicide Episode Guide: White Lies

Written by Anya Epstein; story by Tom Fontana and James Yoshimura

Directed by Peter Weller

                Early in this episodes, Lieutenant Giardello expresses his dismay with what is happening with his detectives and his inability to fix the problems. He can not fix Kellerman’s problems with the FBI, anymore than he can heals Pembleton’s mind or get Russert back from Paris. Things are going badly, and in ‘White Lies’, none of the characters are at their best. This doesn’t necessarily makes it a bad episode—in fact, seeing the characters at low points often brings out great acting.

                Kellerman is in the most obvious case of distress— in the pre-credit sequence, he finds his name and picture on the front page of the Sun, telling the world he is suspecting of taking bribes. His agitation with this gets so high that he does something incredibly stupid and goes to federal witness and focus of the FBI investigation Mitch Roland and berates him for his accusations. This isn’t smart behavior and hours later, Mike finds himself face to face with the FBI prosecutor facing total suspension.

 In order to try and salvage his career, he agrees to submit to a polygraph. While taking this test, however, we learn the real reason Kellerman is so upset when he refuses to answer questions about his fellow detectives’ culpability.  Mike tells Lewis that while he did not take bribes while in Arson, three other detectives in Arson did and he was fully aware of this and didn’t report it. Now we see the horns of his dilemma---- if he admits his knowledge, he will be labeled a rat to other cops, and if he denies it, he will be suborning perjury. In the end, he passes the polygraph, but so does Roland which means one of them beat it. His problems will get worse as the season progresses.

                Pembleton is having problems of his own, as he tries to help Bayliss work the Lambert case—the only open case he has. Thanks in part to his work finding a partial print on the steering wheel, Bayliss finally has a suspect. He is leading the interrogation well, when he confuses the suspect with an out of left field speech about leaving Baltimore for California.  Viewers who have been paying attention will recall that back in ‘Stakeout’, Bayliss was considering leaving Homicide for Los Angeles, when he reconsidered and decided to stay until he closed the Lambert case. It is possible that his subconscious spoke out and blew the interrogation, thus giving him an excuse to stay.

                Unaware of this, Frank berates Tim for blowing the interrogation. However, we learn it is not the murder which bothers him. It is his old life back—not just working cases and in the Box, but smoking and coffee and, well, being Frank Pembleton. He will achieve some of these goals very soon, but it is very clear that he can’t go home again—and there are more problems awaiting him.

                Frank and Mike’s difficulties are personal. The central case of the episode, worked by Munch, is a professional problem. Munch is called in on the discovery of a young woman in her bed, dead of no obvious causes but wearing makeup. Furthermore, her husband is very clearly lying about something. Munch is often portrayed as being a sloppy detective, but he displays an uncommon ferocity, first against Cox for not revealing the causes of the death, then in going after the woman’s husband.  Ironically, this ruthlessness is misplaced as Cox reveals that it is a heroin overdose, not a homicide— her husband merely dressed and cleaned up the body of his wife, trying to hide the evidence. Belzer gives the first of several well done performances that he will do in Season 5, even though his work is for naught in this case.

                The one out-of synch moment that the episode has occurs when Dr. Cox, bothered by why the jailed husband lied to the police. Understandably, Cox is looking for an explanation as to why the husband would do such a thing. While it is a very emotional, powerful moment, the fact is no M.E. in any city would be allowed to question a suspect. Clearly this is an example of the detectives attempt to introduce the new cast member rapidly by putting her where no medical examiner would be.

                Even the humorous story of the episode has a certain measure of pain. Brodie, unsurprisingly given what happened last week, is booted out of Lewis’s apartment. Howard offers to put him up at her place. Considering his crush on her this should be a dream come true for the videographer, but rather than have the sergeant deal with the scorn and mockery that will come with this, he declines her offer--- even though he’s running out of detectives to room with.

                ‘White Lies’ features fine work by Diamond and Forbes as well as the usual good work by Braugher. Yet, even though it’s a critical episode in some ways, it doesn’t linger in the memory as long as some of the classic Homicide’sMaybe it’s just because of the overall quality of season 5 so far, but this episode, despite it’s strengths, just seems average. It does, however, feature another brilliant synchrony with music and image when Frank looks at the Box while Garbage’s ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ plays. They still now how to match image to music, even if the other images fall short.

My score: 4 stars.

Kevin (probably) Saves The World Review

I've always been an admirer of Jason Ritter's work. From his appealing performance as the paralyzed brother on the underrated Joan of Arcadia to his wonderful work as high school teacher Mr. Cyr on the ditto Parenthood, he's always had a gift for playing charming, warm and engaging people. I'm a little shocked, given his Hollywood heritage, that it's taken him this long to land a lead in a series worthy of him: ABC's Kevin (probably) Saves The World.

Indeed, the parallels to Joan are rather uncanny. In this series, Kevin plays an unlikely and initially unlikable lead. He's just moved in with his sister Amy after what we learn was a suicide attempt. Amy seems to be watching Kevin more out of obligation then anything else: the last time she saw him was at her husband's funeral, and he didn't stay for all of that.  Her daughter Reese is openly disdainful of him, but then she just seems to be a typical pre-teen. Then that night, there's a meteor shower and when Kevin's touches the meteor - well, things get weird. Yvette (Kimberly Herbert Gregory) shows up in his kitchen the next day, tells him that she's a messenger from God, and that Kevin is one of the 36 righteous souls destined to save mankind. Now it seems that thirty-five of them are missing, which means its up to Kevin to find them.

Needless to say, Kevin is not up for the job. He doesn't want it, he can't tell anybody what's going on, and he can't rule out the possibility that he is going crazy. (It doesn't help matters that no one else can see Yvette, so it frequently looks like he's talking to himself.) There are, however, signs that he might indeed be one of the righteous - he keeps having visions that seem more and real and that his guide seems sure of our clues.

Notably, the series doesn't go about its mission in a very rapid sense, which probably will dismay as many viewers as it seems to dismay Kevin. So what Kevin is trying to do is listen to the universe. This includes trying to help Amy come to terms with her grief, try to reconcile with people like his high school sweetheart, and just try to be a better person, something he admits he was never good at.

The slow, almost languid, pace will certainly dismay the typical TV viewer who wants their revelations now-now-now! I actually find it refreshing, part of because it does have the tone of Joan of Arcadia, where the series was cancelled just before it was becoming clear what God's mission for Joan was. Most of it is due to the fine work of Ritter himself , who plays Kevin as something of a combination of The Dude from The Big Lebowski and Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl. He's definitely not fit for the job at hand, but part of him really wants to try and solve the mission, even if it seems to be misguided.

It's not clear yet whether or not Ritter's charm is enough to make this into a successful series. The other characters, with the exception of Yvette, are either cliches or ciphers (they still haven't figured out how to use J. August Richards yet). And its not clear if the main story is enough to sustain a complete show (even Joan devoted significant plots to either mysteries or teen drama, neither of which this series has). But Ritter is enough to charm me, and given the gradual pace of Joan, I'm willing to give this series a bit of a chance. Its different, and it has faith. That's rare on any medium, much less broadcast TV.

My score: 3.75 stars.

Perfect Final Episodes

Comedy series often have greater difficulty coming to a successful conclusion than dramas.  This was a constant issue particularly on network TV, where hit series are almost inevitably kept on past their expiration date. The argument can definitely be made that Big Bang Theory and Modern Family have been kept on the air far too long, Seinfeld and Friends were running on fumes when they got to their end, and even lesser gems like Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother were wheezing by the end. One would think that one could avoid the issue on basic cable when there's more control, but such is rarely the case with Showtime, which kept its big hits Nurse Jackie and Weeds on the air way too long, and canceled gems like United States of Tara before they could come to a satisfactory end.

Which brings us to Episodes. A brilliant metacomedy built on the ephemeral idea of just how nasty the people who run TV can be, the argument could just as easily have been made that Showtime kept in on  a little too long. Certainly when the disastrous Pucks finally was cancelled midway through Season 4, you could have made the argument that there was simply nothing more than Matt could do disgrace himself.

You'd have been wrong. After going from the hilariously awful moment when he was giving on contestant on his series 'preferential treatment', Matt's career actually began to take off, demonstrating that Matt was an even bigger prick when he's successful. He shanghaied Sean and Beverly from the sinking ship that was their own TV series (though really, they wanted to jump) then had them come to a 'pitch session' at his ranch, where his contribution was his idea of a show called 'Whores'. Naturally, Netflix was doing one, but Matt 'just liked whores so much."  Even what should have been a dark them when Matt's father died (inevitable considering the passing of Alex Rocco) turned into something verging on farce when Matt's mother and his father's mistress ended up feuding over what was going to be done with his ashes. (Mrs. LeBlanc: "What am I supposed to do with the coffin?!" Matt: "I don't know. Just stick it in the garage. You're going to need it eventually." Even the sentimental moment when Matt was about to scatter his father's ashes ended up being - well, scattered- when he suffered blowback and got covered with them.

The last two installments basically showed Matt at his worse - which is to say, what we expect - when first he demanded a producer and creators credit for the series that Sean and Beverly wrote, which led to a bawling out on the Home Shopping Network, which was resolved, until Matt passed on the pilot. Then Sean and Beverly gave a marvelous grilling in which they (correctly) for everything that went wrong for them since they came to Hollywood. ("That you were on  a show called Friends is so beyond ironic!!" should go into one of the great lines of TV history). Sean and Beverly finally regrouped, wrote another pilot based on their horrid existence Hollywood, and Matt, in his fashion, apologized (with a plush piece of excrement), which led to, of course, another fight that I really wish the promos for this series hadn't given away.

What's perhaps the most surprising about Episodes was how happily this series ended. Sean and Beverly finally got their dream project produced - it was called Episodes had the same opening credits as the series, and somehow managed to get Kenneth Brannagh, Emma Thompson and Isla Fisher in the leads. Carol actually finally made up with the last boss who ended up firing her, and it actually looked their was a chance for happiness there (though in classic Episodes fashion, it took place in a women's room after she had just thrown up). Even Merc (Jon Pankow) the ultimate Hollywood sleaze, somehow managed to end up getting the girl, the literally ageless Morning (Mricea Monroe, who starred in  the Pilot) Yet somehow, there was a level of fittingness to this is well. This is broadcast TV, where everything works out in the end. You figure the series will probably crash like the last one, that Merc will end up cheating on Morning and Carol will probably fall for boss number six. But that's what happens after the credits roll.

The misbehavior and raunchiness of Episodes have it, arguably, Showtime's funniest and most consistent TV series over the past decade. One could complain that the seasons were often far too short, but that's more of an effect of the British influence on the show. I'm really going to miss it now that's its gone, and I'm really sorry that more people will probably watch a single episode of Man with a Plan than Episodes entire five-season run. Oh, well. There's always streaming.

My score: 5 stars.

Homicide Episode Guide: M.E., Myself & I

Written by Lyle Weldon and Emily Whitesell; story by Tom Fontana

Directed by Michael  Fields

                Despite the tremendous strength of Melissa Leo and the countless number of excellent performances by female guest stars, Homicide was not a show that was known for having a strong female presence. (It is possible that this may have been one of the reasons for its low ratings.) Furthermore, the show had lost a lot of its feminine influence when Megan Russert ran off to Paris. In an effort to try and compensate this, the writers tried to introduce another robust female personality. Considering the way that we meet Dr. Julianna Cox (driving full speed to her job in Baltimore) one can’t help but think that several viewers considered Cox ‘a rating boosting bimbo'. However, this is tremendously unfair not only to actress Michelle Forbes  but to the writers of  the show.  Like all of the characters on Homicide, Cox had a lot more layers than it seemed at first glance.

                The big problem with Cox, however, was the same problem as J.H. Brodie. She might be the chief medical examiner for the city of Baltimore, but ME’s have no bigger role on the show than does a videographer. The writers would try to compensate for this  by putting Cox in places where the medical examiner wouldn’t usually be (the squad room for one) and doing things that no ME would do (talking to suspects, being on the street with every murder, and so forth) It was a noble effort to keep her on the show, but in the end there are only so many places you can put the coroner on a show about police.

                Despite all that, the writers managed to do a much better job of fitting Cox in Homicide then they would with several other characters and when she eventually left the show in March of 1998, her absence was really felt. This has a lot to do with Forbes’s strength as an actress. She is amusing, energetic and almost brash in her behavior and when she appeared on the show, interesting things could happen, starting with this episode.

                Through Cox we would see the workings of a big-city police department and how some crimes slip through the crack. While investigating the strangulation of a prostitute by a homeless man, Bayliss learns that he killed another working girl two months earlier. When Cox investigates, she finds out that one of her staff members ruled the crime an overdose as a favor to one of the lazier detectives on the second shift. Her reaction is swift and sure; she fires the examiner. In her own way, Cox has the same attitude towards death that the other detectives have and in many cases she is as righteous in them. However, Cox is not a prude. As she tells Bayliss at the episodes end, she drinks too much and has affairs with the wrong kind of people. She’s going to do a bit of both here.

But even if you don’t like Cox, there’s a lot of other stuff going in this episode that crackles. For example, the FBI has begun their investigation into the bribery allegation against Kellerman and the lead investigator seems hell-bent on uncovering all his vices.  Edward Hermann, known for playing patrician, fatherly roles takes on the role of grand inquisitor with extreme viciousness. His scenes with Meldrick Lewis and Lieutenant Giardello are very well written and he’s good enough to actually take the wind out of Gee’s sails.

                Kellerman is already beginning to tense up about this investigation.  He begins to become snarky with Lewis, gets drunk later that night and gets in a bar fight with another detective. At the same time, he is keeping a lot in--- we learn that he hasn’t yet told his parents about the pending indictments. He seems justifiably upset about what’s going on, but it’s not until the next episode that we learn why he’s so concerned.

                Meanwhile, Frank is making slow progress in recovering from his stroke. For the first time since he rejoined the unit, he is able to give pertinent advice on an investigation. But he’s also going through something a lot more painful. He and his wife are celebrating their tenth anniversary and he wants to celebrate by making love to her--- which is difficult because his blood pressure medication is leaving him impotent. We see the depth of Frank’s love of his wife when he goes to his doctor and all but pleads with her to let him do this. The sight of Frank this upset is a noteworthy event and it gives Braugher another angle to play off. He is able to go forward this time, but there are further marital obstacles ahead.

                Frank’s marriage isn’t the only one having difficulties. Meldrick and Barbara have been having problems almost since the honeymoon began six months ago. When Meldrick invites Brodie to stay at his place (Bayliss gives him his walking papers at the episodes start) things get notably worse when he simply makes a comment about a painting of Meldrick’s. In fairness to Brodie, this marriage is not standing a very strong foundation and this fight was probably going to happen anyway. Still, we know Brodie isn’t going to be here long either.

                However, the last scene of the episode has the emotional pow that you get with Homicide. Standing in the morgue Cox tells Bayliss  that her father has just passed away. However, her sorrow unfolds as the scene progress, until we, like Bayliss realize whose body she’s standing over. It is a shocking moment because earlier in the show we see that her father is still alive and looking decent. However, we won’t realize the full significance of this until ‘The Heart of a Saturday Night’. The scene represents some of the best work that Forbes will do.

                ‘M.E., Myself and I’ isn’t classic Homicide. There’s an awful lot going on  and not much time to tell all of it. Still, it does do three things well. It introduces a new character effectively. It sets the stage for stories that are slowly unfolding. And it highlights several of the shows stars in unlikely places for dramatic punch. It’s not perfect but it’s very, very serviceable.

My score: 4.25 stars.

Leaves One Speechless: Season 2 Review

One of the lesser known success stories of ABC last season was the winning comedy Speechless. It centered around the Dimeo family, an otherwise transient family building its life essentially cerebral palsy inflicted J.J. (Micah Fowler). Stuck in a wheelchair and communicating only through a language board in front of him, J.J. became one of the most appealing characters on TV.  His personal growth could be considered remarkable were it not for the entire Dimeo families energy and spark, heading by that force of nature Minnie Driver as Maya, the ultimate matriarchal figure on a channel that has remarkably strong ones.

As the second season opens, there are certain signs of personal growth as the Dimeos find themselves reaching for the high ground as J.J. becomes even more ambitious. Ray is finally approaching a point where he might actually be respectable, and has a girlfriend after years of struggling. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Dylan finds herself in an awkward position when it becomes clear that her family isn't going to do what it always does and run away after a few months. Maya in the meantime, finds herself in a position of authority when the principal welcomes her back to the school with a group of special needs children who want their help. Maya starts with an aggressive attack on the district - and then finds herself in retreat when she learns the funds for J.J. are nearly tapped out. She goes back to her second mode, which is to run away, but her husband talks her out of it when he tells how good it is for the family. This forces her to turn to the principal for help (Marin Hinkle continues to ring comic perfection) which forces her to use the incompetent people that she can fire as aides.

One of the more impressive feats of ABC is that it has managed to find showrunners who can take ideas which could be disasters in theory and mine them for comic gold. This is demonstrated in fine fettle in Speechless. J.J. has a real personality even though he never says a word, and his relationship with his aide Kenneth (Cedric Yarborough continues to steal every scene he's in) is simultaneously funny and sweet. It was particularly intriguing in last night's episode where J.J tried to get Kenneth involved with his Spanish teacher, and learned the more disreputable parts of Kenneth's personality. This led to a painful moment about the issues of boundaries, and some funny and simultaneously sad ones between the two.

And as long as Speechless centers itself around Minnie Driver, there will be no shortage of laughs. Yes, Maya is the kind of mother you go out of your way to avoid in school functions, but she's exactly the kind of parent you'd want fighting for you. Only the immense amount of comic talent robbed Driver of an Emmy nomination last time, and she makes it very hard for you to take your eyes off her.

Speechless is a winning comedy - there are no two ways about it. And with Modern Family getting long in the tooth, and The Middle airing its final season, this would seem to be the perfect series for ABC to build a new comedy bloc around. Put it together with black-ish, Fresh off the Boat, and American Housewife, and they'd have another powerhouse Wednesday night.

My score: 4 stars.

This is Perfect: This is Us Season 2

One of the most wonderful - and encouraging - discoveries of the 2016 fall season was NBC's This is Us.  A moving, funny, and heartwarming series dealing with one of the most realistic television families since we met the Bravermans on Parenthood,  the series managed to win over just about everybody who watched. It averaged over thirteen million viewers per episodes and became the first network series in five years to get a Best Drama nod, taking a couple of prizes just a few weeks ago.

Now, as the series transitions into its second season, it becomes clear that it's more than willing to go into even more heartbreaking territory than last season.  Jack and Rebecca (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) seemed to get through the fight that caused them to separate last year, but it seems to have revealed darker problems, as Jack now realizes that he is an alcoholic. The fight has put various scars on the Big Three: Kate, who has a resentment of her mother wants to believe her father, Kevin is more in disbelief, and there are scars on Randall, who came home to witness the bitter fight. Jack seemed to turn a corner last night, going to his first AA meeting, but we know there are problems ahead.

In the present, everybody is dealing with issues of their own. Kevin (Justin Hartley) seems to be trying to find a balance for his career, currently making a movie with Ron Howard, and trying to have a relationship with the one who got away, his ex-wife, still living in New York. Kate (Chrissy Metz) is trying to follow a bliss that has haunted since her childhood, becoming a professional singer, and finally committing to Toby (Chris Sullivan). Randall (Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown) is making the biggest changes of all. Having quit his stressful job at the end of last season, he is now trying to adopt a third child. Wife Susan, however, (Susan Kalechi Watson, arguably winning the prize for best spouse since Monica Potter) is dealing with her own grief over losing William, and has been pushing her husband to foster a child closer to their own roots.

The series seems determined to play into darker fields than last season, if possible - we are now finally facing the major conflict between Kate and Rebecca head-on in a heartbreaking scene after Kate's first major performance. The series does cause a fair amount of pain and tears, but they are balances with some genuine laughs among them. I was pleasantly surprised by a wonderful scene in last night's episodes, where Kevin, who has never had the easiest relationship with brother told Susan that the biggest risk Randall ever took was asking Susan out - and then telling  her that he was on the phone for most of that date.

Of course, even the most loyal fans of the series are still trying to find out  the critical question: How does Jack die? We got some critical clues in the final scene of the season premiere, and the producers assure us we will find out by the end of Season 2. But as one of the few people who really didn't mind that we didn't find out by the end of the first season, I'm really not that urgent to discover it. Sure, I want to know what happen and how Rebecca ended up falling in love and marrying Miguel. But This is Us is a series that is fundamentally about human beings, not about some complex mythology. I realize that not every story in the saga is going to have a happy ending - you cry a lot in this series for a reason - but I care about this family in a way that I haven't felt for a TV family in a very long time.

This is Us is one of the most brilliant series to come out of any source in a long time. It has a perfect command of season, cast and writing that we've grown accustomed to only finding on pay cable, but they wouldn't try to have a whole family. This is a triumph and I hope it stays around a long time.

My score: 4.75 stars.

Me, Myself & I Review

I have always been a fan of any television series daring enough to try and break the conventional boundaries of the network series. That's why I've been such a huge fan of Life in Pieces and This is Us. The most recent addition to this kind of multi-viewpoint series is Me Myself and I,  a comedy that tells the story of Alex Riley at three very different stages: 15 (Jack Dylan Grazer), 40 (Bobby Moynihan) and 65 (John Larroquette). Not coincidentally, each version comes we has approached a fresh trauma: fifteen-year old Alex has just moved from Chicago to Los Angeles (and worse still, finds himself transferred from Bulls to Laker country), 40 year old Alex is in the middle of going through a divorce, and 65 year old Alex has just suffered a heart attack, and is trying to come to terms with retirement.

Each Alex is exploring new and difficult territory - the teenager is in high school, trying to deal with the torments of making horrible mistakes that have involved humiliation in front of the student body, and worse still, the girl of his dreams. 40 year old Alex is struggling over a mixed career as an inventor, and is currently living in the garage of Darryl, his partner and best friend (Jaleel White - yes, that Jaleel White). The senior Alex is facing starting a new chapter, and has just run into of all people, the same girl who he never got over in high school (one of the series few problems, I just don't believe Sharon Lawrence is 65). There are some commonalities though, and its the gaps that lead to getting there that I find the most intriguing. All three Alex's have a knack for inventing. All three Alex's have a love for basketball and waffles. Alex and Daryl will meet in high school. Alex will be a failed inventor at 40, but eventually rise to own a company successful enough to ring the closing bell at the Stock Exchange. There's a daughter named Sara whose his whole world, and his pilot stepfather will be his biggest supporter. There's a stepbrother who tries to guide him through high school, but who doesn't seem to be there at forty.

In a way, this series is like This is Us, but with a lot more laughs. A series like this needs to rise more on the performance of its lead character. I have never had much use for Bobby Moynihan on SNL - he never seemed to register in any of his sketches, and though his character is trying to be lovable, he 's still hampered by my memories of Drunk Uncle. The other two Alex's, though, are far more engaging and entertaining. Larroquette is always engaging to watch, but this may be the first time in his entire career that he's had to play a likeable person, and its rather remarkable how good he is playing without smarm. The other performers are all able, and I'm particularly intrigued by some of the other actors in the cast. Whoever thought Jaleel White could play a likeable adult character? And I do want to see more about his ex-wife, if only because I'll take any excuse to see Alison Tolman.

There are also some very intriguing ideas about the future, both technological (we invent self-driving cars) and personal (just how did Alex's stepbrother Jerry become governor of California?!) I don't know if this series can sustain the momentum it did when it started or keep all three Alex in such funny places, but this is the most different CBS comedy I've seen in awhile, and I'm all for different.

My score: 3.75 stars.