Small Screen MVPs: Damaged Surgeons, Haunted Houses, Coming Out
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 1:00PM Who or what was your MVP of this past week on your tv screens?
A couple of weeks ago we polled Team Experience to share their MVPs from shows they were currently watching. You liked it so we'll attempt to do it weekly or at least bi-weekly. In this new world of infinite screens and schedules, whether you're bingeing, right up-to-date, or on demand surfing, we're all probably on different time tables so please do share yours as well.
If you watch these shows would you pick the same most valuable player?
MVPs of the Week
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Director
It's taken this show a while to get to a place where it feels confidence in taking artistic risks, but last week’s episode, ‘4,722 Hours’, saw the once meek show taking its most audacious move yet under the helm of director Jesse Bochco. When Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) was snatched by the Monolith in season two’s brutal stinger, I never expected that the show would tackle the aftermath in such sober, thoughtful form. Bochco even dares to omit the regular title card, using a simpler, more elegant logo atop a vista of the deep blue planet.
Immediately, then, Bochco marks ‘4,722 Hours’ as a singular artistic endeavour, a quite remarkable thing in a Marvel Studios empire that has continually driven away individualist directors. Alright, so the episode still fits within the show’s larger template and is constructed with tropes familiar from many lone survivor sci-fi tales, but it feels full of personality, submerged in the midnight blue light of eternal night, allowing Henstridge to dig into Simmons’ psychological trauma that the show had presented to us in the previous episodes. It’s an episode full of confidence and trust in both character and audience. Let's hope it’s one that signals an even brighter future for a series going from strength to strength. - David Upton
The Walking Dead's Executive Producer
Thank you, Robert Kirkman, for backing the hell off. [More...]
If you’re not familiar with the minutia of The Walking Dead, allow me to explain that Kirkman is the creator of the comic book series, which he still writes. It’s no secret that TWD is having its best season yet: Writing is tight, pacing is outstanding, and the legitimate complaints that plagued the show, of racism and sexism, are a thing of the past.
Why is TWD so great lately? I’d argue it’s because Kirkman’s fingers are no longer in every pie. He’s preoccupied with the snoozefest that is Fear the Walking Dead, and he’s letting new showrunner Scott Gimple actually run things. This week’s brilliant “Here’s Not Here” episode was written entirely by Gimple. With Kirkman’s juvenile fanboy sensibility no longer in charge, the show finally has the opportunity to be terrific. (We recap The Walking Dead at Basket of Kisses if you like that sort of thing.) - Deborah Lipp
You're the Worst's Extreme Haunted House
In a Halloween-themed episode already bubbling over with inappropriate funnies (Paul dressed as Stephen Hawking!) as well as unresolved relationship tensions (Jimmy determined to “fix” Gretchen’s depression after all), “You’re the Worst” hits a season high once it plunges our anti-heroes into an extreme haunted house that functions as a live-action mash-up of the most gruesome horror movies ever made. Filmed with just enough quick cuts and a pounding metal soundtrack to make the nonstop parade of horrors at once transfixing and weirdly hilarious, it’s the kind of thing you think had to be made up until you discover it’s a real thing.
Somehow, the ordeal forces at least two of our four mains to confront their real demons and take the first step to getting past them, while underscoring how stubbornly the other two refuse to face theirs. Contrived? Yes, yet it works beautifully. Bonus TFE points for the callout to “Silence of the Lambs,” with a Buffalo Bill figure turning into Lindsey’s best life counselor, and the bawdy in-joke about TV, uh, getting the best of movies. - Lynn Lee
Please Like Me's 'Coming Out' Rehearsal
Is anyone watching Please Like Me? I know that it airs on Pivot, a network so deep in the cable line-up you probably don't even know it exists, but please, I beg you, find it. Please Like Me, created by and starring Australian comic Josh Thomas is one of the best shows on TV. Last week, in order to help his anxiety-ridden boyfriend Arnold prepare to come out out to his father (who made him quit school choir lest he seem too queer) Josh makes his own father (currently in need of perking up) role play as Arnold's Dad. But Josh deems their perfunctory improvisation not good enough, and steps into the role of director, telling Arnold to sing to his Dad. And Arnold sings a rendition of Sia's "Chandelier" so simple and sweet and hopeful that for one bright, shining moment, everyone's world stops as Josh's Dad accepts Arnold the way we all hope his actual father - or any father, for that matter - would. If only Arnold's real coming out would go so smoothly. - Dancin' Dan
The Knick's André Holland
Dr. Algernon Edwards, the African American "acting chief surgeon" at the Knickerbocker felt more like a lightning rod concept / conflict generator in Steve Sodebergh's turn of the century hospital drama. They piled everything on to that character. This season, by giving him less, Holland is somehow giving more or at least he's doing it more sympathetically. Like many dramas about difficult brilliant people the show errs continually on the side of 'the protagonist(s) is always right!' but Algernon's dangerous retinal problem and illicit affair with a wealthy socialite woman and the hiding of / confusion around both have humanized him in a way that Dr Thackery's addictions haven't humanized him. Clive Owen's brilliant junkie doctor is increasingly wearing out his welcome in a show built around him so it's good to have such a strong understudy in the wings. - Nathaniel R
P.S. I almost gave this to composer Cliff Martines but I still haven't worked out if his relentlessly modern / electronic underscore is an instantly dating catastrophe or a brilliant anachronistic perversion. I'd love a second pair of ears if you got 'em.
Reader Comments (15)
I enjoy "Please Like me" but it's presence on deep cable means I'm never caught up on it; Hulu just added seasons 1 & 2 so I'm finally seeing the second season now. Really worth the effort, although I have misgivings about how the show treats mental illness.
Hasn't Gimple been the show runner for a couple of years now? I'd say the show's current hot streak started as soon as they arrived at Alexandria last season (which be when Kirkman departed to focus on Fear, who knows). Haven't seen this week's, but I agree that this has been a great season so far.
My MVP this week is Gotham's villains - Robin Lord Taylor, Corey Michael Smith, and James Frain in particular. The series has evolved into something really fun, campy, and batshit crazy in its second season, and that's largely because they've given the show over to the bad guys almost entirely. It's a far more sustained and entertaining brand of lunacy than whatever Ryan Murphy is puking onto the screen these days.
Nathaniel, fwiw I think Cliff Martinez is easily my MVP *every* week for "The Knick." The music cuts against the knee-jerk tendency to see a period piece and highlights just how cutting edge and, really, *modern*, these characters were.
But then I've loved Martinez's music since "Solaris," so I'm a bit biased.
HTGAWM has improved substantially since its freshman season. Viola Davis is not the only actor in the ensemble worth looking at.
To the producers of Madame Secretary (not for the ridiculous plot points) but for taking a cue from The Good Wife, by hiring talented Broadway regulars to fill supporting roles (e.g., Bebe Neuwirth, Patina Miller, and Christine Ebersole, among others). So when do we get another musical number beyond the Capitol Steps-inspired For the Longest Time?
I also LOVE Cliff Martinez's score for The Knick (I don't think it's so much "now" as it is purposefully - and wonderfully - anachronistic). And Andre Holland, too.
Dave - I actually think the way Please Like Me treats mental illness is remarkably true to life, or at least much truer to life than I've seen on other TV shows. Hannah's speech this week about how it feels being on drugs vs. being off drugs was incredible, and even though the show can go a bit light with it at times (mostly in regards to Arnold), it isn't afraid to look the dark side of it straight in the eye. The tricky line the show walks in its tone is quite remarkable to watch.
Roark: Scott Gimple has been onboard for a little while, which is why I didn't give the MVP to him. He's "new" inasmuch as TWD has had a revolving door of showrunners.
Roark: That's great, but here's the biggest reason why I can't even take this seriously as a Batman prequel: There's no reason for this Jim Gordon to ever name his daughter Barbara. Barbara Kean should have died nobly in episode 21.
Everyone: Does anyone here prefer the Telltale games to any of the other material with the label The Walking Dead?
I like the score to The Knick so much I'm thinking about getting the soundtrack. (I love all of Cliff Martinez's scores.) I like lylee's theory about how it reflects the modernity of the characters, but mostly I just like how Soderbergh has attempted to make the show feel as little like a traditional period piece as possible, and the score contributes to that.
Andre Holland has always been the real star of the show for me; not only is his character the most interesting one on the show, but I think he's probably the best actor on the show. But my favorite storyline this season is Sister Harry's imprisonment (for those who don't watch the show, she was a midwife who performed abortions in her off hours). I have no idea how they're going to resolve it, and I want to know how she got arrested.
Volvagia - Ha! Everytime Barbara does something terrible, I think, "There's no way Gordon's naming his daughter after her now." I wouldn't say it is a huge obstacle to be enjoying the show, but it definitely has caused a raised eyebrow from time to time.
Great SHIELD episode. The ending was a gut punch as well.
No way! Before I even scrolled down to your "Please Like Me" section I was going to make a comment about it. I'm just finished the 2nd season and I was going to nominate Debra Lawrance (Josh's mom) as MVP for me. I think she has an incredibly difficult job balancing her character's mental illness with the show's chirpy tone and pulls it off with aplomb.
I also want to nominate the hosts and judges of "The Great British Baking Show." Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc are hilarious and compassionate judges, Mary Berry (that's her real name!) is the British grandma I wish I had (new drinking game: take a shot whenever she says something is "scrummy") and Paul Hollywood (that's his real name!) is the silver fox bear I want to break bread with.
Agree wholeheartedly with SHIELD. It has so many great elements (I think, for example, its cast is very good even if the show isn’t always sure how best to use them) that don’t quite cohere because of plotting that’s wedded so completely to the movies. I’d like to nominate the script for the episode for dealing with the fact that Simmons and the astronaut would of course have sex. That this was dealt with straightforwardly – and that Fitz understands – was a relief.
I’m also in the plus camp for The Knick’s score, which I just love.
MVP of the week for me is perhaps Fargo’s production and costume design. I went back on forth on the first season, but it’s undoubtedly a show put together with real love. And Jean Smart has been wonderful.
Also, the return of Catastrophe, which airs on Channel 4 in the UK and (I think?) on Amazon in the US. It’s the best romantic comedy series in years. Very funny and crude, but with real emotional underpinning. The fact that Sharon Horgan is writing SJP’s next TV project is exciting, because their sensibilities really seem to be a match watching this.
DJDeeJay - Oh YAY! I'm so glad other people are watching (and liking) Please Like Me. The entire cast is fantastic but my favorite this season has been Hannah Gadsby as Hannah. She's always fun to watch in the background of scenes and when she comes to the front just knocks it out of the park every time.
And while I also enjoy the Great British Bake-Off or whatever, and I totally agree on the judges (Paul Hollywood.... WOOF), I don't really like the hosts. The puns are cinge-worthy and not in a good way.
Denny - I always found their bad puns to be part of their charm, mostly because I think they KNOW they're bad puns and they just revel in the ridiculousness of them.