Mark's Remarks #003 - Monthly Review - February 2017

Welcome to my first Monthly Review where I briefly go over some of the shows I watched in the past month. I had to put this together rather quickly because I only recently decided to replace my Season Review with monthly articles and I didn’t want to wait another month to post the first one and I thought this could be a good opportunity to ask you guys if you had any suggestions what else I could include.
Future posts would be published on the last day of the month, the format will most likely remain as it is with me writing about shows that just started/ended their latest season and the odd show here and there I caught up with but I welcome any ideas on how to improve this article. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here are some of my hot takes and half-assed thoughts on television from the past month.

BIG LITTLE LIES, Season 1 — The latest TV show to feature silver-screen actors in its cast has only aired two episodes but it is already one of my favorite shows this season. There’s just so much to love about this show. The cast, the writing, the georgeous backdrop, Chloe’s taste in music. I’ll be sure to enjoy the remaining five episodes.

LEGION, Season 1 — I have only seen two episodes of this show and can with absolute certainty say that this is the most bonkers, batshitcrazy, insane, mindblowing show on TV right now which may or may not be hyperbole but I’m leaning towards the latter. That’s pretty much all I have to say for now or possibly ever because another thing I’m absolutely certain of is that I don’t understand the show as much as I would like to.

THE 100, Season 4 — We are almost halfway through the season and it hasn’t been good so far which is not to say it has been bad. It’s not nearly as messy as Season 3 but all the more absurd in its storytelling. Maybe I need to look at the statement "The 100 peaked in Season 2." as a hard fact rather than a probable possibility and lower my expectations to enjoy the show again but I don’t want do that.
I don’t want it become one of those shows that I put on in the backgorund while I do something else. I want it to be great again, I want it to be engaging and compelling to watch, and so far that hasn’t been the case. I wasn’t too excited when Alie mentioned the melting nuclear power plants and now that Season 4 is finally here, I can’t help but feel they may have written themselves into a corner. The majority of the season is still ahead of us; Here’s hoping it’ll improve from here.

CATASTROPHE, Season 3 — It’s been too long and I’m so happy to have this little gem back again. The show returned in top form and set up the third season quite nicely with Rob and Sharon going through their toughest rough patch yet. It’s too bad there are only going to be six episodes this season again.

SANTA CLARITA DIET, Season 1 — I’m only four episodes in and I’m loving it so far. Drew Barrymore is great as Sheila but the real standout for me is Timothy Olyphant. His line delivery is just outstanding and every time he says something, it sounds like he is internally screaming into an endless abyss of despair and hopelessness. It’s fascinating how he can make something as ordinary as "Okay, honey" sound like he is coming apart as the seams. I also like the little tidbits of mythology and can’t wait to find out more about it.

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, Season 2 — The second season was somewhat of a mixed bag but I find it hard to be critical of this show because of how much I unrelentingly love it. Even at its worst, which would be a good chunk of the latter half of this season, the show still remains highly enjoyable. Greg’s exit was handled as good as it could be, Rebecca’s girl squad was fun while it lasted and will hopefully make a glorious return considering where this season ended. Nathan’s introduction was a little clumsy but he has grown on me since then. Josh becoming a priest.. Yeah right, as if. That was pretty ludicrous but then again, the whole show just kind of escalated and went off the rails in those final moments. Overall, I think I liked Season 1 a little more but I love what they have set up for Season 3.

AGENTS OF SHIELD
4.15 "Self Control"
I’m not really one who concerns himself with whether strangers watch a show or not but it almost makes me feel sad that there are so many people out there who have only seen the first dozen of episodes of this show. Comparing that batch of episodes to what Agents of SHIELD is now and what it’s capable of churning out.. It has truly come a long way.

It’s no coincidence that the two best episodes of the entire series feature a whole lot of Elizabeth Henstridge. I mean, holy shit, she was chewing scenery left and right in this episode. Between her confrontation with Fitz and her reunion with Daisy, she really got to stretch her acting chops. I really liked how driven the episode was by the show’s female characters. Daisy’s seismic ball was pretty cool and the subsequent disintegration of LMD-Mack was one of the best visuals the show has ever done. Even LMD-May had a moment when she sacrificed herself and Mallory Jansen continues to do impeccable work as Aida.

But my favorite aspect about the episode was how well it executed the psychological horror and paranioa that comes with fighting against your own team. LMD-Fitz begging Simmons to stop stabbing him and then abruptly changing his demeanor was the most terrifying thing I’ve seen in a while. And then there’s of course our first glimpse into the new world order in The Framework where everything has been turned inside out and upside down and I couldn’t be more pumped for the third arc of this season.

THIS IS US 1.16
"Memphis"
You haven’t lived until you have ugly cried over the death of a fictional character and boy, did I bawl during the final ten minutes of this episode. In a television landscape so oversaturated with death, This Is Us is one of the handful of shows that still manages to get a visceral reaction out of me. Like many others, I didn’t expect William’s death to happen until the season finale but this episode seemed as fitting a time as any.

The flashbacks did a good job at filling in some of the important gaps in Wiliam’s life while in the present day, William gets to "meet" Jack and finds some closure in Memphis. It was great seeing both Randall and William enjoying themselves since these two usually carry the emotional weight of the show which they once again did at the end of the episode.

Randall calling William Dad and him putting his hands around his face like Jack used to do, the song, the montage, William meeting his mother in the afterlife, the goddamn ducks, the poems. I was a blubbering mess by episode’s end. I’m really gonna miss William, he had such a warm presence about him but I take solace in the fact that we haven’t seen the last of him.





Premiering:
Feud — 5th March
Making History — 5th March
Trial & Error — 14th March
Marvel’s Iron Fist — 17th March
Imaginary Mary — 29th March
13 Reasons Why — 31st March
The Son — 8th April
Girlboss — 21st April
The Handmaid’s Tale — 26th April
Dear White People — 28th April
American Gods — 30 April

Returning:
The Catch — 9th March
American Crime — 12th March
The Originals — 17th March
iZombie — 4th April
Better Call Saul — 10th April
The Leftovers — 16th April
Veep — 16th April
Fargo — 19th April
Feel free to tell me how your February was regarding television and I’d appreciate any suggestions and ideas on how to improve these monthly articles.