Television
Taxi (Paramount Plus)
We finished Taxi.
I don’t know if they knew they were ending, though, because the final episode was all about Simka’s (played by Carol Kane) period. It seems an odd choice for a finale, but as an episode, I half respected it and was half horrified by it.
I respected it because it dealt with a real topic (PMS) frankly. I was horrified by it because a man explained most of the PMS and period stuff. I understand times were very different in the 80s – I lived through them as a girl who barely knew what was happening in her body. I wasn’t educated.
It made me happy and hopeful but sad because women’s health education is still so far behind.
Aside from the abrupt ending of the series, I loved what they did with the ramp-up to the end. Whether they thought they were ramping up to a series finale or simply a season finale, what they did was kind of beautiful.
The season 5 premiere centered around Simka and Latka arranging a dinner for the rest of the Taxi gang. Simka has spent months finding everyone’s ideal matches, and she’s ready for them to meet.
The rest of the season continued with very few mentions of these dates ever again.
Then, in the episodes leading up to the finale, we watch these love stories come to fruition – with surgery, a pregnancy, and an introduction to the kids. Alex didn’t get a love story wrapped up, and Jim’s involved business, not love.
I was happy for all of them anyway, even Louie.
I will never look at Christopher Lloyd the same way again. I definitely have a crush on him now.
The Simpsons (Disney +)
Yep, we’re doing it.
This is a massive undertaking, but I already feel it will be worth it.
Marge is SUCH a good mother, y’all.
There have been examples of it in every episode so far, but none more so than Episode 6: Moaning Lisa.
I remember being glued to the TV as a middle school band geek the first time I watched this episode. Lisa really felt like me. I was young, so I only understood the surface bits of this show, not the deep messages or anything like that.
Or maybe I didn’t understand those messages because my own parents were laughing at or belittling them. I understand it was something they didn’t get in their childhood, so they didn’t know how to give it. I am definitely still learning to give and receive things like this myself, a skill I didn’t learn nearly early enough.
When we got to the climax of this episode, I had tears streaming down my face through Marge’s speech to Lisa in the car.
“Lisa, I apologize to you, I was wrong! I take it all back. Always be yourself. If you want to be sad, honey, be sad. We’ll ride it out with you. And when you get finished feeling sad, we’ll still be there. From now on, let me do the smiling for both of us.”
These are the words I needed to hear then, I need to hear now, and I need to remember so that I can use my own variation of them when someone I love feels a sadness they are having trouble finding their way out of.
For All Mankind (Apple TV +)
Best space show in the Universe.
Throw Space Grandpa in a black hole. HE HAS SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO DIE, AND HE NEVER DOES.
I don’t think I will ever celebrate a fictional death as much as I will this one.
Abbott Elementary (Max)
Okay, so, in case you didn’t know, Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary has been teasing a crossover episode in the upcoming season.
The other night, while watching one of the last episodes of season 3, I was reminded that in the upcoming season, the gang at Abbott will be working with a local Community College.
My brain did an immediate Simone Biles level of gymnastics to get me to this conclusion in about 15 seconds:
Abbott Elementary is going to cross over with Community. I could just picture it. I had the story and the jokes all ready to go.
I knew it was a long shot, but then I remembered they are definitely not on the same network. And I know they are having trouble filming the Community movie, much less a crossover episode of another TV show.
So, then Mickey and I took some time to rabbit hole, doing some research to try to figure out what show is crossing over.
We think it’s gonna be It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for a few reasons.
- ABC (Abbott) and FX (Always Sunny) are both owned by the same parent company
- Kaitlin Olson (Sweet Dee on Always Sunny) is on a new drama that just started airing on ABC this season called High Potential. I’m gonna give it a shot because I love her.
- This twitter exchange:
So here’s our pitch for the crossover:
The Always Sunny gang puts on a low-rent immersive experience akin to the Scottish Willy Wonka debacle earlier this year.
The Abbott crew arranges a field trip to this experience.
Hilarity ensues.
In one of the interviews about the crossover, Quinta Brunson said it will “Change television as we know it.”
So, what we think this means is that the camera crew will become a big part of the Always Sunny portion of the crossover – they will become onscreen characters themselves.
I dunno, it’s just a theory.
What do you think the crossover will be?
Australian TV (Or Dropout TV)
Australian Survivor Heroes vs. Villains
Welp, it’s here. We did it. We watched the best tribal council of all time (IMHO).
A couple of days before we watched, I received the below message from Aubz:
This poor, sweet girl had no idea what she’d be in for, and I knew it would pay off.
So, the first time I watched this episode, I hated Simon with a million burning passions.
He wanted to get George out, and George was my guy.
But the more times I watched Simon play Australian Survivor, the more I began to like him.
Then, Mickey has been watching along with Aubrey and me during our watchthrough, acting as our researcher.
Every single thing he looks up about Simon makes him out to be the cutest, sweetest person. I think he simply doesn’t know how to people. I’ll tell you more about that in a later post. I need to save some room.
I am writing this part on Thursday, and we’re watching THE BEST EPISODE EVER on Sunday, so I will write how it goes after I finish this sentence.
I’M BACK AND IT WAS EVERYTHING I DREAMED OF.
The build-up to this tribal council is just incredible. I feel confident saying it is the “Best Tribal Council Ever in ALL OF SURVIVOR” because of this. It doesn’t feel like a spoiler because as it unfolds, you simply can’t see any of it coming.
It is one of my favorite things to experience with new (invested) people. It takes my breath away with the terrifying brilliance of the moves made. It is a masterclass in Survivin’.
This season is so good, y’all.
Movies
Challengers (Amazon Prime)
This was great. It was definitely one of the best movies I’ve watched all year. And when I say “all year,” please know that I mean “the current awards season” and not just movies I watched this year.
I care zero percent for tennis (“leadog” in Irish), but this movie was electric. Zendaya is incredible, as always. She is cracklin’ onscreen even when she’s not doing anything.
I’ve never been into someone else watching tennis so much in my life.
Here is the description of the movie from Amazon:
To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, a tennis player turned coach makes her world-famous, grand slam champion husband play a “Challenger” event against his former best friend…who also happens to be her former boyfriend.
First, it goes WAY deeper than “former boyfriend,” but I understand why they simplified it in the teaser description.
Now, at the beginning, I thought this was low-stakes tennis. First, WTF is a “Challenger Match”?! Second, the ultimate winner trophy has a TIRE COMPANY on it. I thought this movie took place at, like, Social Circle Golf Course or something.
Nope, it’s about professionals; I just don’t know anything about tennis.
The love story was fine, but it wasn’t really the highlight of the film for me. What made this movie special was the disjointed storytelling device. It jumps around a lot, to the benefit of the unfolding story. It keeps the viewer engaged and helps us understand the characters’ motivations much better.
The other thing I really appreciated about this movie was Zendaya’s character’s motivation for most everything—she just wanted to see a good tennis match, y’all.
Kinds of Kindness (Hulu)
This was weird.
I liked it.
It was three short films that were unrelated, save for one character in all three. However, there was dream talk and licking in all of ’em, if I remember correctly.
It’s a thinker. It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.
Of the three stories, the second one resonated most with me. It was the most unsettling and the least in your face. The ending was bleak.
The whole movie was bleak but intriguing. Emma Stone has been taking some chances lately, between this, Poor Things, and The Curse (showtime). I’m a big fan, and I hope she keeps doing this.
Maybe one day the risk will be one of D’s movies?!
I Saw the TV Glow (MAX)
“They can’t hurt you if you don’t think about them.”
This movie is weird/hard to talk about and I don’t know if I can recommend it to other people.
Not because I didn’t like it, because I did. In fact, I think this one will end up in my rewatch pile.
However, sometimes people get really judgey when I recommend a movie that they end up not enjoying, so I’m erring on the side of caution.
Cause this one isn’t for everyone. Sure, anyone can watch it and follow the surface story, but this movie goes so much deeper than that.
Here is the synopsis from IMDB:
Two teenagers bond over their love of a supernatural TV show, but it is mysteriously cancelled.
The film is categorized as “horror”, but that doesn’t feel right to me. There are horror elements, but there are also drama elements, comedy elements, suspense elements, and a big old heaping of surreal elements.
You know how “body horror” is big right now? Well, I think this would be considered “mind horror.”
I’m ready for more movies like this that I can’t shake.
