TV: "Succession" Course-Corrects With Third Episode of Final Season

By Christopher James

Some episodes of TV are above and beyond the show’s they’re housed in. Season four, episode three of Succession raised an already strong show to new heights. A twist early enough in the episode sets the final season in a new direction and gives Emmy-ready tapes for its crew of actors.

In full honesty, I was working on an article about Succession jumping the shark. A once dynamic series which captivated audiences and critics was just spinning its wheels tossing business jargon and curses into an incomprehensible word salad. Much of season three featured the Roy clan rehashing more of the same. However, episode three of the new season is flooring. 

SPOILERS TO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW...

Click to read more ...

Streaming: Dark Comedy "Beef" Serves Grade-A Entertainment

By Christopher James

The littlest things can make a person snap. Minor inconveniences can pile up into a mountain of indignation, such as something being missing at the store or a garbage bag breaking when taking the trash out.

The two sides of Netflix’s pitch black comedy Beef have built quite an impressive mountain of rage, a volcano about to erupt at any second. Every business plan that Danny (Steven Yeun) comes up with has been destined for failure. He’s trying to provide for his parents but every get rich quick scheme fails and sets him further into a hole. While Danny thinks success will bring happiness, Amy (Ali Wong) proves that wealth and power doesn’t guarantee it...

Click to read more ...

Drag Race RuCap: "Teacher Makeovers"

NICK TAYLOR: I know both of us are less jazzed about the makeover staple, so let’s just get that out of the way now. This episode didn’t alleviate any of my usual feelings about how this challenge is judged or executed. I’m glad the teachers were so uniformly game, unlike some of the surlier participants from older seasons, and the basic cloning/color swapping made the peaks among this group somewhat limited. Imagine the ramifications of Crystal Elizabeth Methyd rightly winning this challenge in season 12 and encouraging future queens to really go apeshit on what “family resemblance” means. The race is tight enough at this point that winners and losers truly come down to hair-splitting, yet this week’s choices release that tension into something inevitable without being totally satisfying. How did this week’s episode sit with you?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: For a bitter curmudgeon like me, who thinks the makeover challenge is the worst Drag Race staple, this was an enjoyable hour. It could have been much worse…

Click to read more ...

Drag Race RuCap: “Wigloose: The Rusical!”

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Praise be the 90-minute episode, the Rusical team, the queens of season 15, and the politically prescient writers who saw the current anti-drag policies coming a year in advance. Praise be to everyone! “Wigloose” is the episode of the year so far, which is saying something when you consider the utter mediocrity of its LSFYL. Then again, nobody should’ve had to fight for their lives this week. Even more than in the original “Daytona Winds,” the queens delivered excellence across the board. Sure, some did better than others, and the runway could break ties, but the talent is so evident it’s hard to keep euphoria at bay. And yet, after last year’s non-elimination-palooza, I can see why the producers and Ru herself might want to keep things tight. I’m sad, but I get it. 

NICK TAYLOR: Praise be to the singers who actually interpreted all of those songs, too. I think the sheer brilliance of last week’s tooth-and-nail LSFYL and the performances in this week’s Rusical should (and, in a prior season, absolutely would) have prevented anyone from going home. Lord knows Marcia probably would’ve won this episode. Heaven Bacon was tailor-made for her...

Click to read more ...

Drag Race RuCap: "Two Queens, One Joke"

NICK TAYLOR: Welcome back, Cláudio! And welcome back, 90-minute Drag Race episodes! The return of a longer runtime definitely gives the show more room to breathe - it really is so nice to hear Ru say “Bring back my gurls!” again - and allows us to really spend more time with the queens. This is clearly a talented cast, but “Two Queens, One Joke” feels like the best chance we’ve really gotten to know this top seven. Do I agree with the judging 100%? No, but as an episode of television, this felt satisfying in a way that season 15 has too rarely achieved. 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I love the return of 90-minute episodes (really 60 minutes), even if this week’s judging infuriated me. Moreover, the outcome of all those shenanigans was downright heartbreaking…

Click to read more ...