Welcome to Last Night on TV, our new daily column that looks back at what happened on television the night before. If we’re going to stay up all night and watch TV, we might as well talk about it the next morning.
Last night on TV, we had a number of excellent experiences. I check back in with the midseason premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the series premiere of Lucifer, and the latest episode of Superstore. Alisha Grauso is back for another episode of The X-Files (which got better, hooray!) and Kevin Kelly checks in on SyFy’s The Magicians.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Goes to The Beach, Has a Breakdown
For all of those who are just now tuning into Crazy Ex-Girlfriend following Rachel Bloom’s Golden Globe win, welcome to the party. Here are a few things you should know about this show:
- Yes, the singing is everywhere and it’s all awesome.
- Josh straight-up sucks.
- I’m Team Greg. Although I also like the neighbor girl, so it’s tough.
- If you joined mid-season and you didn’t use Hulu to catch up, you’ve basically skipped to the part where it all goes down. So perhaps you should go back and watch the first 8 episodes.
As I mentioned above, quite a lot happens in this episode. For a midseason premiere, there’s quite a lot of culmination happening with the core story. Rebecca finally admits to her friends that she wasn’t called to West Covina from New York by a job. The truth is that she was really lonely and depressed in New York. Her random meeting with Josh in the first episode inspired her to move back in search of happiness.
We in the audience know that’s not even remotely true, as evidence by Rebecca’s conversation at the end with her real friend Paula. That’s one of the most interesting things about this show. The show itself is not in denial about Rebecca’s brand of crazy. Or, as evidence by the first big musical number with Valencia, anyone else’s crazy. The whole gag is about Rebecca’s lack of awareness (up to this point) of her own motives. With her realization at the end, the show has reached an interesting turning point. Now that Rebecca is out as a Josh-lover, where does she go from here? Does this become a show about her and Paula devising evil schemes to oust Valencia? Will there be a twist in which she realizes that Greg is a much better guy than Josh? I don’t know. But I do know that there will be singing and dancing and the unstoppable charm of Rachel Bloom along the way. And that’s more than enough.
The X-Files’ Second Verse is Better Than The First
Alisha Grauso: The second episode of the X-Files revival was a leap forward from the first. “Founder’s Mutation” got the series back to its roots and what it does best: namely, a “Monster of the Week” type format that was still loosely threaded with the overarching government conspiracy mythos. Sunday’s episode already dropped us right into the middle of the batshit crazy, so last night’s episode was relatively tame by X-Files standards. A scientist working on a top-secret project suddenly kills himself under mysterious circumstances, so Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate, and, of course, they discover that the project has a much more nefarious purpose than the mere genetic disease eradication it is on the surface.
Finally, the show gave us answers – a few of them, at least – regarding what the hell happened to William, Scully and Mulder’s son, in the years since we last saw him as a baby until now. There was an annoying continuity break here (which may or may not ever be explained) as, when we last saw William, he was still a baby and been given up for adoption by Scully to protect him then adopted by the Van De Kemps. He also seemed to no longer possess powers granted him by his hybrid human-alien DNA. Yet in a flashback each from Scully and Mulder, “Founder’s Mutation” revealed that they had raised him for a time on their own, well into his pre-teen years, and that William most certainly had been affected by the alien DNA in a big way. Were these flashbacks the daydreams of still-grieving parents who wondered what a normal, idyllic life with their son may have looked like? Were they nightmares cautioning them of the dangerous consequences for William had Scully not chosen to keep him safe by giving him up for adoption?
In any case, the episode had a few poignant moments that spoke to the unconditional, deep love between Mulder and Scully; in between the unethical government experiments and kids with psychic powers, they were quiet reminders of the real chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson that has anchored the show throughout the years. “You’re never just ‘anything’ to me, Scully,” says Mulder to a remorseful Scully, wondering what might have been. Cue my long pent-up emotions.
And can we just give a round of applause to Mitch Pileggi, reprising his role as their boss, Walter Skinner? It’s great to see him firmly on Team Spooky once again, acting as the buffer and shield between Mulder and Scully’s investigations and the oppressive FBI and CIA. A great moment in last night’s episode came when Mulder and Scully were in his office, debriefing him on the situation, but hindered from fully disclosing the situation – or looking at the top secret files in the hands of the high-level government agent sitting next to them. After convincing the agent of his conformity and guiding him out of the office, Skinner immediately looks at Mulder: “I assume you made copies?” It’s the kind of double-agent help he’s given Mulder and Scully over the years, and I got the same sense of stick-it-to-’em satisfaction that I always have whenever Walter Skinner proves once again what an invaluable ally he is.
If the miniseries can continue to improve like this, it just may be one of the most satisfying returns to television in quite some time.
Is The Magicians Better Than The Book? Maybe.
Kevin Kelly: I am one of those irritating people who always says “Well, the book was better” after I’ve seen a movie or television series adapted from a novel. That’s because books were my escape outlet when I was a kid, and I’ve been hopelessly addicted to them ever since. However, The Magicians marks the very first time that I’ve been able to say “Well, the book was better… but holy shit, this show is fucking good.”
Now, I’ve been singing the praises of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians ever since it was published, and I found out about his books after reading his twin brother Austin Grossman’s fantastic book Soon I Will Be Invincible. Seriously, if you’re a comic book fan and you haven’t read this, please go out and pick it up immediately. In fact, the purpose of this paragraph is just to tell you about that book. Now that I’ve mentioned it, let’s get back to The Magicians.
On paper, The Magicians sounds like a Harry Potter ripoff, because it’s “Lonely outsider boy finds out there’s a secret school dedicated to studying magic, and he has magical powers.” But studying magic is the only similarity here. You may have seen the Syfy channel’s ads for The Magicians, proclaiming that “MAGIC IS SEX” etc., and this first episode wastes no time in letting us know that yes, these kids are having sex. And they self-medicate. And they party hard. In other words, they’re college kids.
But ah, yes back to the magic. So as a short primer: The Magicians follows melancholy Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) as a college student on the fringes of the popular crowd: he’d rather read his dated Narnia-esque Fillory novels than join the kegger full of have naked co-eds in the next room. But he’s striving to leave that behind and redefine himself when he goes off to graduate school, and is pushed in that direction by his best friend Julia (Stella Maeve). She’s dating Quentin’s other closest friend James, but he also harbors a huge crush on her.
Quentin and Julia head to an appointment with a graduate school advisor, only to find the man dead in his own house. They call the police, and an overly helpful (and stunningly redheaded) policewoman hands Quentin a large envelope with his name on it when they release them from the scene. It contains a mysterious sixth Fillory novel, which intrigues Quentin as only five were published.
And therein lies the rabbit hole. In short order, both Quentin and Julia find themselves at Brakebills University, taking a placement exam to be considered as possible students of magic. Quentin makes it in after some extreme prodding during his test, but Julia doesn’t make it in. But just before his mind is magically wiped, she gouges a groove deep in her forearm, just out of sight of the magician about to turn the last couple of hours of her life into a blank slate.
Quentin and Julia find themselves on different paths at this point, with Brakebills being central to the story. We’re introduced to the other major players as Quentin starts taking classes at Brakebills. There’s obnoxious Penny (Arjun Gupta), who clashes with Quentin from the start. The brash and sultry Margo (Summer Bishil) who uses sex as a weapon. The snarky Eliot (Hale Appleman) who sneers down his nose at the rest of the world. And bookish Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) who has her own secret reasons for attending Brakebills. By the end of this inaugural episode, Quentin is fully ensconced at Brakebills where something horrific happens based on a spell he and Alice cast, while Julia explores the world of underground magic after being refused by Brakebills.
Now, these recaps aren’t meant to be a dissection of the show detailing what’s different from the novel. And there’s actually quite a lot that’s different. For instance they’ve aged the characters up to grad school instead of having them trying to get into college, and they’ve changed Janet’s name to Margo. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But let’s face it: the people who constantly lean over and whisper “THIS WAS DIFFERENT IN THE BOOK” during films/shows are the kind of people you want to punch in the face.
Instead, The Magicians seems to revel in its adaptation for the small screen. Every choice that producers Sera Gamble and John McNamara have made seems judicious and story-driven.. Adapting a fantasy novel that some people will call a ripoff can’t be an easy thing, but they’ve done such a good job with the pilot as to make it seem effortless. So far, I’m not bemoaning the fact that things are missing from the book. I just can’t wait to see what comes next on the show.
So do yourself a favor and check it out. The pilot episode is available online for free right now, so you don’t have an excuse. And remember to check out Lev’s book, which is part of a trilogy. And pick up his brother’s Soon I Will Be Invincible as well. You’ll thank me for at least one of these.
Lucifer Has Moxy, That’s For Sure
I’m not entirely sure that I’ll be covering Lucifer going forward, but I have some thoughts on this pilot. I like it’s wiley energy. Tom Ellis (best known for EastEnders, I believe) plays The Devil himself, Lucifer Morningstar. He’s taking a break from Hell in this adaptation of a comic by Neil Gaiman, which means he owns a Los Angeles nightclub. When an old friend (insofar as The Devil can have friends) is murdered, he teams up with the hilariously named Detective Chloe Dancer (Dark Country, Chicago Fire) to find the killer.
This is where the first episode, great energy and all, starts to become something else entirely. Ellis has all the wit to make the “Devil Next Door” routine work just fine. And Lauren German matches his intensity well and plays the straight man. They have good chemistry, with a bonus appearance from the always funny Rachael Harris as Lucifer’s new therapist/maybe friend with benefits. The problem is that I can smell a procedural dressed up like a sexy show about The Devil from a mile away. And this one has the stank.
Will that be something that continues and ultimately stifles the energy this pilot has to offer? It’s hard to say. Shamefully, I’ve never read the Gaiman comic upon which the show is based. What I know is that if this thing turns into “The Devil Joins SVU,” I’m not in. I want more of the Biblical literalism. Angels in the streets. The earth’s crust breaking open, demons rampaging and maybe at least one first season trip to Hell itself. I don’t need this to be a rehash of Supernatural, but it would be fun to see The Devil do some mystical Devil stuff that is more than just hanging a rapper out a window by his gaudy gold chain. For now, I’m intrigued by the potential and I enjoy spending time with Lucifer, but if this turns into CSI: Devil’s Nightclub, I’m out.
Superstore is Selling Us Things We Don’t Really Need
We’re back at Cloud 9, the pop culture version of your local Walmart (only cleaner). As I mentioned last week, there’s a lot of charm going on in Justin Spitzer’s comedy about the misadventures of big box retail. America Ferrera and Ben Feldman continue to be a fun duo in Amy and Jonah, contentious coworkers and a will-they won’t-they couple. This week we’re reminded of what makes the courtship of Amy and Jonah a little creepy: she has a family. This is the show’s only long-running narrative of any substance, beginning in the first episode when Amy left work and put her wedding ring back on. Oh, what an emotionally game this show is playing in between all the shots of customers doing weird things inside the store.
This week’s episode explored Amy’s family life by bringing her husband Adam (House of Lies‘ Ryan Gaul) into the mix. The theme of desperation to reclaim some kind of unrealized potential rears its head once again, as we learn that Adam really just wants to buy a bunch of expensive equipment to make YouTube videos, if only Amy’s college classes weren’t so expensive. By this show’s standards, this is about as dramatic as it’s going to get. And this is the single note that it seems to want to play again and again.
What makes this single-note drama passable is the fact that this show continues to get a lot right in the comedy department. It’s exploitation of humorous (and sometimes sad) retail tropes — including this week’s plot device of a sales contest that leads to a pizza party — continues to work wonders. Fat guy in a little shirt. $60 party planning budgets. Selling people things that they don’t need in order to hit an arbitrary sales goal. These are all things that exists, to varying degrees, in any retail work environment. To be able to laugh about them through charming sequences that involve America Ferrera is almost therapeutic. Almost.
What did you watch last night?
0 comments:
Post a Comment