TV Reviews
Better Call Saul Recap: When You Can’t Run Any Further
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 3, “Rock and Hard Place.” For our recap of Episode 2, click here] Case Summary While other things happen in the third episode of Better Call Saul, “Rock and Hard Place” should be forever remembered as The Nacho Episode, for very good reason. Nacho isn’t the first series regular to perish over the course of the show’s run — that honor belongs to Chuck McGill (Michael McKean). But Michael Mando delivers a simply staggering performance in his theoretical swan song, facing a fate which might have seemed inevitable from the beginning, but is still heartbreaking to watch. Writer/director Gordon Smith delivers Nacho to his end with an episode so deliberately paced that the dread builds more and more with each de...
We Own This City Is a Comprehensive, Heartbreaking Account of a City in Ruins: Review
The Pitch: The tragic death of Freddie Gray in 2015 while in police custody was a watershed moment for Baltimore; Black communities and activists erupted in protest against the overwhelming presence of (and abuse by) Baltimore Police Department officers, who frequently dispensed justice at the end of a baton. And in 2017, the city saw the closest thing that’s come to accountability, with the arrests of the members of BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force — a unit specifically tasked with taking guns and drugs off the streets of Baltimore, but who instead used their institutional power to enrich themselves. Drugs planted in cars to justify arrests, seized cash going missing, violent crackdowns on anyone who looks at them funny: it was just another day on the job, particularly for the GTTF’s hothe...
The Offer Spins a Fable Out of the Making of The Godfather: Review
The Pitch: In the early 1970s, a plucky little movie studio called Paramount Pictures, overseen by a firebrand named Bob Evans (Matthew Goode), had the rights to make a movie based on a very popular novel called The Godfather. Making this movie, of course, would be no small task, and the hero of the project became an unlikely one: Alfred S. Ruddy (Miles Teller), who prior to taking on the project was a relatively inexperienced film producer best known for co-creating the classic ’60s sitcom Hogan’s Heroes (prior to which he worked for the Rand Corporation as a programmer). Ruddy’s problems aren’t just limited to negotiating the wild personalities involved with the film — Evans himself, neurotic director Francis Ford Coppola (Dan Fogler), a fresh-faced theater actor named Al Pacino (Anthony...
Better Call Saul Recap: A Season Premiere That Revs the Story Into Gear
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 1, “Wine and Roses.”] Case Summary When last we left our heroes (as far as heroes exist on Better Call Saul), Nacho was fleeing the scene of Lalo’s attempted assassination in Mexico — which Lalo had the bad manners and quick wit to avoid, meaning that as the season begins he’s still alive, on his own, and determined to bring those who tried to have him killed to his own sort of justice. Nacho, meanwhile, has only a tenuous lifeline to help in escaping Mexico himself, making his way on foot from Lalo’s compound to hide out in a seemingly deserted motel to wait for instructions; his fate is just one of many that Gus seems to hold in his hand at the moment, showing no inclination to rush into a move. Adverti...
Better Call Saul Recap: Nacho’s on the Move, and Kim’s Got Plans
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 2, “Carrot and Stick.” For our recap of Episode 1, click here.] Case Summary The title of Better Call Saul Season 6, Episode 2, refers to how Jimmy and Kim continue to develop their plan to sabotage Harold Hamlin’s career, this time bringing in the once-familiar faces of Betsy and Craig Kellerman. You might remember this vindictive pair from Season 1, when Jimmy McGill represented them as Craig faced charges over his illicit bookkeeping for Bernalillo County — since then, Craig’s done some time, and he and Betsy are attempting to rebuild with a new business preparing tax returns for people who don’t spend enough time looking over the fine print to make sure that they’re not being ripped off (something we’...
Barry Season 3 Review: Bill Hader’s Hollywood Hit-Man Gets Even Darker and More Complex
The Pitch: Coming back after one of the longer pandemic-era delays on record, the third season of Barry is all about consequences. The HBO dramedy has never strayed far from depicting the brutal repercussions of hit-man Barry’s (Bill Hader) decision to attempt transitioning out of the assassination-for-hire game for a new life as an actor. But the stakes feel even higher now, with reason for serious concern not just for the lives of every character in Barry’s circle, but their souls. That means yet more of the brilliantly nuanced character work nurtured by creators Hader and Alex Berg, but also yet more of the show’s unconventional action and fascinating directing choices. With the cast all returning at the top of their game, the only potential concern one might have about the new season o...
Lizzo Pulls Double Duty on SNL: The Five Standout Moments
Pulling double duty as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live is both an honor and a curse—often more endurance test than a purely joyful performance. For every Justin Timberlake episode that audiences seem to love (sometimes inexplicably, to be honest), or Miley Cyrus episode that seems to cement the artist’s place in the SNL inner circle, there’s a Halsey episode that feels lucky to escape with a few stray highlights. Singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actress, and flautist Lizzo seems like an inspired choice for this sometimes-thankless task; though she’s known mainly for music, she has the kind of poise and confidence that translates well to live comedy. Throughout her episode of SNL, she hit her marks with clarity and energy—though the episode itself seemed stuck in Timberla...
Russian Doll Season 2 Review: Natasha Lyonne’s Metaphysical Comedy Continues to Screw With Time
The Pitch: Nearly four years after the Birthday That Just Kept Killing Them, Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett) are still free of the cosmic death wishes that tied their fates together in the first place. Well, mostly. While neither seems in imminent danger of falling down a flight of stairs or getting walloped by an errant taxi, neither do they seem to have particularly warmed to the idea of being alive in a world that deals people such uneven hands. This means that as yet another of Nadia’s birthdays is approaching — and not just any birthday, but her milestone 40th — they are neither of them surprised when the universe decides to step in and screw with their experience of time once more. In Nadia’s case, this screwery takes the form of a No. 6 train that i...
Conversations With a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes Shows the Banality of Evil: Review
The Pitch: Years on, the American public is still obsessed with serial killers — who they are, what makes them tick, the lurid details of their murderous escapades. No one knows this more than the folks at Netflix, who toss out a new true-crime documentary every other week, and whose biggest hits include shows like Mindhunter. One of the platform’s biggest hits was 2019’s Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which assembled a four-part chronicle of his crimes, his history, and the trial that ignited the public’s imagination. Now director Joe Berlinger is back with a follow-up, The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, drawing from nearly 60 hours of recorded interviews with another infamous mass murderer to tell another tale of lost innocence, the nature of madness, and the various...
Outer Range Is Yellowstone Meets Ozark Meets Stranger Things: Review
The Pitch: Stretched out over the sprawling plains and towering mountains of Wyoming, a kind of Hatfields and McCoys situation plays out between two neighboring ranch families — the Abbotts, led by firm but fair patriarch Royal (Josh Brolin), and the Tillersons, an out-there clan led by Wayne (Will Patton), an ailing land-grabber with his eyes on the Abbotts’ western pasture. But things turn ever more complicated when a mysterious drifter named Autumn (Imogen Poots) shows up at the Abbotts’ doorstep and asks to camp on their land (and can pay for the privilege), her motivations unknown. That same day, a tractor-sized hole opens up in the ground along — you guessed it — the Abbotts’ western pasture, a bottomless black pit covered in smoke, seemingly leading to nowhere. Where did it com...
The Flight Attendant Season 2 Keeps the Story Going — and Soars: Review
The Pitch: When the first season of The Flight Attendant hit HBO in late November of 2020, it signaled a bit of a shift for star Kaley Cuoco (who also acts as an executive producer on the series). Known best for her longtime role on The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco entered new territory for many viewers with the twisty, darkly comedic mystery, and stuck the landing as an alcoholic flight attendant, imbuing the title character with something so human the audience couldn’t help but be sympathetic to her antics. Season 1 caught on quickly through word of mouth as the puzzle unfolded. Season 2, premiering on HBO with the first two episodes on Thursday, April 21st, picks back up with Cassie (Cuoco) living her very best life. Things are a bit different for our chaotic heroine — she’s relocated to Los ...
Better Call Saul Season 6 Review: The Beginning of the End Is As Exquisitely Stressful As Ever
The Pitch: “Meticulous.” “Chilling.” “Engrossing.” There are so many words that come to mind when sitting down with a new installment of Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin-off which has somehow soared to a whole new tier of quality over the years. No spoilers (for fear of the Salamancas knocking at the door), but it can be said that the first two episodes of Season 6 keep this proud tradition going. As the show gears up for its last hurrah (the first seven episodes of the final season debut starting Monday, April 18th, with the second half of the season returning in July), every element of one of TV’s best-made shows is working hard to invest us in so many of the show’s biggest questions, including the most important one of all: How’s it going to end? Where Were We? Season 5 of Saul e...
