I'm not sure why I feel compelled to explain this premise each week.
First up today is Stumptown.
This ABC starring Cobie Smulders as private eye Dex Parios has held the interest of both me and my wife Andrea for this whole season.
The last two episodes of the season addressed head on a major source guilt and trauma for Dex from her time in the marines while serving in Afghanistan.
The death of Benny Blackbird by an IED has tormented Dex for years, especially her role in it. Then Dex finds out there was more to Benny's death than she knew. There were sinister actions that orchestrated his death.
Dex discovers there was a rogue squad of marines who had intercepted a crap ton of money that had been earmarked for operations in Afghanistan, mostly to help pay off the occasional warlord to side with American interests, perhaps to build some schools and wells to help the Afghan people.
Benny wants nothing to do with this money and is going to report it up the chain of command. The IED that kills him is not from a terrorist or an insurgent, it's from his own men.
We get flashbacks to a young Benny and Dex. We establish that Benny is a really nice guy. We see him acting like a big brother to Ansel. We see him defuse a potentially violent incident with wisdom, empathy and humor.
The men at the core of the conspiracy to steal the money and kill off Benny are now being targeted for death. One of those deaths has been hung around Dex's neck in a frame up.
Told to keep her head down by her lawyer (Miles Hoffman's dad), Dex has no intention of keeping out of anything when she is so close to getting to the truth about what happened to Benny and perhaps getting him some justice for his death.
It all comes to a head in a brutally violent woodland encounter between Dex and the ring leader behind the scam. The men who stole the money and murdered Benny have been exposed.
But Dex has not quite found peace. Guilt over Benny's death consumed her for so many years. Now that real cause of his death and his killers have been exposed, what does she do now?
I hope we get to find out. As I write this, ABC has made no announcement if Stumptown has been renewed for a second season. I feel confident that ABC did boost the original 13 episode order to 18 and didn't move the show around the schedule during the season. I hope that speaks well of ABC's confidence in the show.
Besides Dex's journey, there are other stories in Stumptown. Grey's recent reunion with his father may not be the heartwarming thing it appeared to be. After relunctantly accepting that his father is a changed man, Grey finds out that his dear old dad may be up to some nefarious dealings.
And Ansel has been busy, setting up a reunion for him and his sister Dex with their long lost mother.
Ansel is a great character with Down's Syndrome, played by an actor with the same condition. Long sheltered and protected by his sister, Ansel has pushed his limits, working in Grey's bar, moving out of Dex's house and getting a girlfriend. He may be just now getting a handle on the world but he's no fool. He knows when Dex or Grey are not being honest with him. Ansel is a person of unexpected wisdom and insight.
Stumptown is a fun, engaging show. Dex Parios is a flawed character, prone to engage in denial with alcohol and/or sex with men and/or women. Dex's bi-sexuality is a part of who she is but it's not a thing that defines her.
What does define her is a willingness to do what's right, regardless of the cost. Dex has lost a few big pay checks for her dedication to do the right thing.
Hopefully the cast and crew will score a few more pay days to come if ABC wisely renews this show.
___________________________________
One of the things a lot of people are doing this time of quarantine is binge watching TV shows that otherwise they have not had time to do.
My problem is with working from home, my time available to do such things has been as limited as before the pandemic struck.
But with an actual day off from work last Friday, I got down to business, fired up the ol' Netflix and started watching New Girl.
I've seen episodes here and there of the long running sitcom starring America's sweetheart, Zooey Deschanel.
 |
| America's sweetheart, Zooey Deschanel |
But I've never seen it from the beginning. So I burned through the first half of season one on Friday.
I had lot of fun exploring how Jess Day wound up in that loft with Nick, Winston and Schmidt. Zooey as Jess is not afraid to embrace being totally weird. And Jake Johnson is almost zen like as Gray on Stumptown compared to his role as Nick.
I think this scene from the 3rd episode kind of encapsulates the heart of this show. At a wedding reception, Nick asks Jess to dance while Groovy Kind of Love by Phil Collins is on. If you think this is going into some kind of romantic slow dance thing, Nick has other plans.
A slow motion chicken dance?
Oh, New Girl, you have me now.
A sweet, funny moment.
New Girl is a weird, strange, sweet, funny show.
__________________________________
What I'm not watching: Tiger King.
I'm constantly bombarded by jokes and memes about this show and I don't get them and I hate not getting them.
I'm supposed to know who Joe Exotic is?
Do I want to know who Joe Exotic is?
No, I don't want to know who Joe Exotic is!
But I'm tired of not getting all the jokes.
What am I to do?
___________________________________
I wanted to take a moment to comment on late night TV. As you know, the current social distancing we're all engaged in to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus has forced shows with live audiences to cease normal production.
But as the saying goes, the show must go on.
So late night hosts like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers are working from home. Stephen has his son running the camera and his wife making cocktails to get him through the latest bullshit Donald Trump did on any given day.
Jimmy's children are on the verge of stealing the show.
Seth has been relegated to an attic crawl space to present "A Closer Look" on the latest bullshit Donald Trump did on any given day. There are two tiny doors behind Seth and we're all wondering where they lead. Seth knows we are wondering but will not tell. And what the hell is the deal with that copy of "The Thorn Birds" on the table behind him?
There is a certain sense of a new normal settling in as we become almost accustomed to the rhythms of talk shows produced from home. It is still quite surreal to hear funny things being said with out an audience laughing along.
This past weekend, Saturday Night Live got into the work from home act and it was very strange. Without a defining point of reference like we have with late night talk show hosts, the individual segments had a scattershot feel. There was no sense of cohesion as one thing (Pete Davidson's Drake parody) caromed into another thing (Kate McKinnon's Ruth Bader Ginsberg exercising at home) into yet another thing (Larry David on hand as Bernie Sanders to talk about what's new with him since he stopped running for President).
There was an attempt at an ensemble sketch as 6 co-workers navigate a virtual meeting using Zoom with two older women totally confused and distraught on how to cope with this new reality.
The tribute at the end of the show to SNL's music producer Hal Willmer who died this past week of COVID-19 was poignant as a multi-screen grid of women sang a song of tribute to the long time mainstay of the SNL family. Individual current and former members of SNL offered their thoughts and memories of Willmer, painting a picture of a man of considerable talent who was loved by all. It does underscore another tragedy of this time we're living through. Not only the loss of life but also the loss of a chance to come together and express that grief. Video chats may offer a chance to express ourselves visually and verbally but they cannot replace a comforting hand on one's shoulder, a warm embrace, that physical reminder that we are not alone.
OK, that's for today. Next time out, I'll have a few things to say about the new season of Killing Eve.
Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy and remember to be good to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment