I generally liked that they decided to shake up the formula a bit with a new long-term relationship arc. The dating life metaphors were starting to thin out, and adding the new dynamic opened up a few new ideas. Unfortunately it felt like it took a while to get a sense of Lucy as a character, and she never really seemed fully formed, even though she eventually did get some solid comedy bits.

I didn’t really get what the message was supposed to be, but I never really felt like the whole setup paid off. There was some stuff about subjectivity of the story teller, but the ambiguity of what actually happened didn’t really feel like it served any larger goals, and I was mostly left feeling kinda empty. Zachary Levi was fun tho.

Disclaimer: I have not read the book, but have some familiarity with the differences in the show. It sounded like it was strongest when it was inventing rather than adapting. Easily the two most compelling episodes were the ones that focused on Laura, who, from what I’ve heard wasn’t as prominent in the Gaiman novel. Shadow felt like an underdeveloped character, and frankly, and underdeveloped actor. There were a handful of cute moments between he and Ian McShane’s Wednesday, but much of their adventures felt long and plodding. We didn’t get enough time with the main antagonists, and never really got a sense of what the central conflict was until (kinda) the last few moments of the season. All in all, it was a season with a few cool ideas and few cool moments, but generally uneven execution, though an ending that leaves me curious about what’s to come next season.

The Star Trek episode was pretty cool, and the rest were kinda varied. Crocodile felt brutal without serving any purpose, Black Museum felt like recycling a lot of ideas from previous seasons. Metalhead was kinda cool in its simplicity and strong execution.

Better than the first season, but not able to live up to the more interesting second. Carrie Coon was a bright spot in an otherwise fairly typical stumbling-into-crime story. While Coon’s Chief Burgle had a lot of great character moments, I was a bit disappointed that she never really had much actual impact on the story, as the finale left me a little disappointed.

I’ve already talked about how I thought Master of None felt like an amateur rip-off– err, homage– of Louie. So I won’t go into that, but this season didn’t feel like a substantial step forward in that regard. That said, I appreciate his experimentation, and the fact that he’s unafraid to try new things. Unfortunately, I felt like those things were varied in success. The black and white premiere felt like a lame attempt to add gravitas. But what took me out of the episodes even more were the performances of actors well outside their wheelhouse, especially Aziz himself. The perfect example of him overextending himself was an extended shot at the end of one of the midseason episodes where he is bummed out that he’s falling for his married friend. The camera holds on him for minutes, as he fidgets and looks around awkwardly. A great actor could have crushed this scene; Louie CK would’ve muddled through clumsily, but knows enough tricks to make it passable; Aziz looked like his instruction was “fidget and look around awkwardly.” Aziz is funny, but he just doesn’t have the range to be all he wants his protagonist to be. The two strongest episodes were the ones with the least Aziz in them, especially the brilliant “Thanksgiving,” which chronicles a number of Thanksgivings through the life of one of his close on-screen friends, and how her family slowly comes to terms with her orientation. Sure, it was a bit of a leap that they only talked about that stuff at Thanksgiving each year, but it was a cool narrative device that worked well.

Oh, what it might have been if Bryan Fuller had stayed on board? There were flashes of promise in the first handful of episodes, but it ended up being a bit of a mess overall. I was most disappointed by the time loop episode that was so clunky that it made me angry and want to go back and watch Cause and Effect instead. I was totally okay with the revamped Klingons, but they took a weird left turn in the middle, and then I guess they were supposed to be boring after that? I can’t see this version pulling in viewers to the premium subscription required CBS All Access.

Certainly a lot of notes from 30 Rock. Wacky female executive producing a TV show with even wackier co-workers. The main distinguishing feature is the overprotective mother intern played by the fantastic Andrea Martin. Not all the episodes work, just like was the case with 30 Rock, but the highs were so high that it could be forgiven, with a Noises Off style of spectacularly coordinated failures, and merciless deadpan from John Michael Higgins (Best in Show).

What a roller coaster season of Broad City! Man, there were some great episodes and some SUPER dumb ones. But if nothing else, I hope bleeping out Tr**p becomes a thing.

This season was enjoyable, but felt far less cohesive than the previous two. It felt more like a collection of episodes, some compelling, some slightly less so, but not like a full story. If the first couple seasons were about four troubled people who hurt themselves and others in unintended ways, this season was mostly about the challenges in healing. There were a number of satisfying moments to that effect, as the characters who sometimes frustrated us gained a measure of self-awareness, or those who relied too heavily on others began to find some self-reliance. Sometimes these transitions were great, sometimes they were clunky. But this show is nearly always able to buck expectations, and the extremely unexpected and beautiful season finale was one of the best examples of this. Instead of trying to wrap up all our core characters’ stories, it focused on a peripheral character in a completely different location, and it worked.

Classic Moffat this season, in a number of ways. Firstly, is his compulsion to try and go bigger and more convoluted the deeper into a series he goes. No better example of this than the final episode of the season, whose crazy Saw hijinx felt so little like the grounded Sherlock we were introduced to in Season 1. Someone EVEN SMARTER THAN SHERLOCK OR MYCROFT?? STAKES RAISED!!! As clunky as his plots can be (especially the resolutions), no one can do quick, whip-smart dialogue with roller coaster character beats better. He’s a full subscriber to J.J. Abrams “It doesn’t matter what’s in the box” philosophy of story-telling, creating wondrous and intriguing mysteries, with very rare payoff. The first two episodes were just incredible examples of this, as it felt like he made it further and further into the episode before going completely off the rails, but then inevitably does spectacularly. But I’d argue in each case the journey was worth the disappointment at the end. Unfortunately, the can’t be said about the mess of a finale, which is why it really only earns a mid-80s score this season despite flashes of brilliance.

After being less than amazed by the first season, which I didn’t get to until this year, season 2 felt like a significant step forward in terms of maturity and complexity. Issa’s relationships with her work friend Frieda and her best friend Molly felt more relaxed and interesting, and had some really good chemistry. While there were still a decent number of gratuitous sex-as-drama moments, there was more to the romantic arcs this season than who-cheated-on-whom. The finale in particular had a number of scenes showcasing real growth and self-awareness in the characters that we hadn’t seen before. On top of that, a lot more of the dialogue had great comedic timing and laugh-out-loud moments.

The second season, for quite understandable reasons, felt a lot more bleak and heavy than the first season. It still found moments to be ridiculous between the dread, but it was a different feeling show. Alia Shawkat’s performance was top-notch, though her supporting cast continues to gravitate a bit toward the cartoony for me. The finale was fantastic, yet again, leaving us to wonder what it means for a third season.

It started out somewhat sad and uncomfortable, but it really starts to shine about halfway in, as we get to know the charming cast of misfits trying to put on an unconventional show. Alison Brie was great, in a slightly off-type, but mostly on-type role, but it was her best friend Debbie, played by Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie) who had the most moving and compelling character journey. Marc Maron was also entertaining, but was mostly just himself. I was also partial to Wolf Girl. As someone who never gave a crap about wrestling of any kind, this show did a surprisingly good job and getting me invested and excited when they (spoiler) put on a fun wrestling show. But it was mostly about the characters and relationships for me. A lot of fun.

While the series ended on a high note, often times the journey to get there was clunky and/or boring. I’m not sure why they kept relegating Helena to a convent or living on her own in the woods. There is such thing as too much of a good thing, but I don’t think we were there yet, and her character has always had the most potential to be mined, in my opinion. That being said, she was a big part of the endgame, and her pregnancy and relationship to Sarah were core pieces of a really interesting discussion on what it means to be a mother, or a daughter, or a sestra. While the series as a whole probably could have been compressed substantially to eliminate a lot of the repeated plot elements or incoherent villains, it will be the soaring character moments between these fantastic characters, brought to life by an extraordinarily talented Tatiana Maslany, that I will thankfully remember the most.

B.

Pretty much the same formula at this point… they’re not doing anything to change it up too drastically at this point. It always teeters on the edge of being dark and serious, but stays just on this side so we can laugh at everyone’s misfortune. Because of where they positioned things this season, there was less playful banter between them, which was kinda one of the biggest selling points. But the really strong and emotional final episode was made even more so with its usage of Carrie Fisher, which I am not embarrassed to say made me tear up.

In a lot of ways, the second season of Stranger Things felt like more of the same: it was also the same, but more. It certainly felt bigger, both in the threat, and the scope of the world (finally peeking beyond the town limits a bit.) The cast of characters also got two (arguably three, with Will being more of a presence) new additions. The downside to that was also that there wasn’t as much time to dig into all of them at the same level. Most notably Eleven, who really suffered from Gandalf syndrome and had to stay out of the action for most of the season because she’s OP. I also didn’t feel like the two newbies added much aside from a general “let’s shake things up!” vibe. But when the big train got rollin’ about halfway in, there were plenty of thrills and unexpected moments to get me totally on board. Again, the show delivers more on slight twists on old formulas rather than reinventing the wheel, but it executes with a bold confidence that delivers high entertainment value.

This is a frustrating review to write. I watched all 5 seasons this year, and while the final season was enjoyable, it wasn’t at the same level as the fantastic fourth season. It was still good, but it was for obvious reasons just very different, and hard to really connect with anyone in the same way. I guess Dylan is kinda supposed to be that character, but I never connected well with him, in part because of the wonderbread actor who’s never really measured up to the people around him. That said, there were strong moments (no breath-taking ones), and they played out the end game in a satisfying, if somewhat on-the-nose, fashion.

While not quite as cohesive as the excellent 2nd season, there was a lot to like about Season 3. Unfortunately, the grumpy, mean, and just not fun Valerie wasn’t one of those things this season. I guess there was a bit of character growth and self-awareness gained by the end, but it really didn’t feel worth the journey to get there with her, and she just kinda brought the scenes down. There were solid plot twists, an adorable new supporting character in Alex’s cosplayer roommate, and probably the most interesting season for Laura yet. Also, Judy Greer and Alex made an adorable couple. I stand by my overuse of that word.

This was a really strange season to review. And not just because it’s called Review. But because it was three half-hour episodes, with commercials, so effectively just over 60 minutes of content. That’s easily the shortest season I’ve reviewed. But I definitely have to, because I only recently caught up on the first two remarkable seasons, and this is in effect rating the series as a whole. Plus, Forrest MacNeil wouldn’t back down from such a review challenge, so I won’t either. I’ll be honest, I was not initially intrigued by the premise at all, because it is very difficult to explain what the actual premise is. Basically, it’s a dark comedy about a ridiculous man who will tear his life apart for the validation of his faceless audience. It’s hilarious in its ludicrousness, and kind of sad and tragic at the same time. And the ending was just about as perfect an ending I could imagine for it, if a bit rushed. A worthy, short coda, to an extremely unique series.

It’s not only that it lacks the sense of tension and urgency of a Breaking Bad… it also comes short in direction and focus. For every emotionally fraught scene between Jimmy and his judgmental brother is a sequence that takes too long to go nowhere, like reestablishing a well-known rivalry between Gus and Hector, or ten minutes of taking apart a car to find a tracking device. There are too many pans on the stove for us to be invested in any one of them. Sorry, I take that back, I am invested in the relationships between Jimmy and Kim, and the one between Jimmy and Chuck. I’ve said it before: Mike, as cool a character as he is, shouldn’t be a part of this show. There is not enough of interest there to devote 33% of our time there, and it makes the entire venture feel disjoint. That said, there were enough of those good moments to make it still mostly a pleasure to watch this season.

While I might have gained another level of appreciation if I’d had any exposure to the true crime genre, American Vandal was still pretty entertaining in its own right. It had well-drawn characters, and unexpected turns, especially when the documentary in progress became a plot point itself, adding an interesting meta angle to the whole thing. It said some interesting things about justice and public perception, and was a lot more fascinating than it appeared on surface level with “Who drew the dicks?”

I found the second season of The Crown to be far more watchable than the first. It was much more focused on the characters and their relationships, and how those interact with the expectations put on them from their positions. My main quibble was that while there were some standout episodes focused on Elizabeth’s husband Philip and sister Margaret, Elizabeth herself didn’t get the same attention, and was left mainly to react to their misadventures. That said, Claire Foy did get some moments to shine in those interactions, and we would occasionally get extremely disarming moments when she let down her guard.