I have so far resisted getting HBO Max despite there being things on HBO Max that I want to watch (like DC's Doom Patrol, for example). I'm just very reluctant to spring yet one more damn streaming service.
Still, I did manage to see the first episode of The Flight Attendant and damn, seeing the rest of this series might be another reason to give in and get HBO Max.
My interest in The Flight Attendant was sparked by the involvement of Kaley Cuoco. Her role as Penny on Big Bang Theory is underestimated for the unexpected levels of nuance and sensitivity she brought to the role.
Her role as Cassie Bowden on The Flight Attendant does invite some comparisons to Penny. Cassie likes to party and she likes drink but she also has a compassionate side which she displays with a young passenger who is frightened during a flight.
But there the comparisons end. If Penny was amusingly flawed, Cassie is seriously fucked up.
Cassie is a full on alcoholic, drinking on the job and frequently to excess to the point of having black outs. After a night in Bangkok of drinking, partying and a one night stand with passenger Alex Sokolov. Cassie wakes up to find the man in bed next to her dead. Deader than dead. His throat slashed, covered in blood.
What happened? When? How? Why? Cassie has zero clues to answer any of the questions racing through her mind.
Cassie is very fearful of calling the police. She's an American woman in Thailand waking up in a locked hotel room with a murder victim! And she cannot account for herself. Her memories of the night before are fractured and fuzzy. There's no telling what the hell would happen to her in a Bangkok jail.
After hastily cleaning up the crime scene, Cassie joins her airline crew for the flight back to New York City where she is immediately met by FBI agents who want to question her about what happened in Bangkok.
Still unable to piece the night together, Cassie can only assume she didn't kill Alex. So who did?
Despite being deader than dead, Alex Sokolov is a recurring character, a figment of Cassie's subconscious who speaks to her and chides her for her lapses in memory and judgement.
And Cassie is definitely struggling with those lapses. She's not a bad person per se but her lifestyle of excessive drinking and avoiding responsibility and consequences for her decisions have put her in a very bad spot and she's not entirely sure how to proceed.
I'm going to have to get HBO Max, damn it!
This past weekend, the Sundance cable channel ran a Columbo marathon. A whole 48 hours of Columbo asking beleagured and irritated murder suspects "just one more thing" over and over.
Normally watching Columbo is my thing but giving it's ubiquity on our TV screen, my wife Andrea and daughter Randie began paying attention.
Andrea was quite disturbed that Dick Van Dyke was a murderer on an episode.
Randie became fascinated with the mysteries of Columbo's private life, particularly his repeated references to his never seen wife who apparently is always a big fan of whoever Columbo investigates.
I saw 3 episodes in a row where the murderer was the same guy, Jack Cassidy. In one, Jack is a writer. The 2nd time around, Jack has a different job in the world of books as a publisher. In his 3rd go-round, Jack is a stage magician who is also secretly a Nazi.
Jeopardy is having a most bittersweet week right now, airing the last five episodes recorded by Alex Trebek prior to his death. Trebek always insisted that the game and the contestants are the true stars of Jeopardy but there is no escaping the focus on the host this week, the persistent sadness that underlines each day bringing us one step closer to the end of Alex as the host of Jeopardy and one day closer to his demise.
When Friday comes and Alex oversees his last game ever, I expect the emotional heft of the moment will be overwhelming. There will still be a game to play, clues to solve, money to win. The game goes on as Alex Trebek intended.
Next week, when announcer Johnny Gilbert tells us, "Here is the host of Jeopardy" and says for the first time a name that is not Alex Trebek, I fully expect that moment to be fraught with emotion as well.
By the way, I am reading Alex Trebek's memoir, "And The Answer Is" and as much as I tend to devour a book in as short a time as possible, I am parsing out this book a few chapters at a time. I am in no hurry for that journey to end.
On the subject of games shows, two shows debuting this Thursday will be watched by Andrea and I. We're going to give Celebrity Wheel of Fortune a go as well as the American version of The Chase.
Next week, I will share my thoughts on the new BBC America series The Watch as well as the debut of the new sitcom Mr. Mayor.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and keep it down will, ya? I'm trying to watch some TV here.
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