Grace and Frankie, Season 3: Return to Form

By Spencer Coile

A good series is not born overnight. Oftentimes, the pilot episode is not indicative of the quality a show might have down the road. Even if it is incredible, the series still runs a risk of running off the rails in subsequent seasons (Desperate Housewives). Still, there is something especially rewarding about a series that, after two lackluster seasons, can come back swinging in its third. And after indulging in half of its third outing, it is safe to say that Grace and Frankie has carved out a very unique space for its viwers. 

Picking up shortly where season two left off, season three to Grace and Frankie finds its two leading characters developing their own sex toy business geared toward older women. Of course, this is all easier said than done. After all, they still are an odd couple. Meanwhile, their ex-husbands Sol and Robert, neogotiate issues of retirement, gay culture, and coming out at such an old age. And of course you cannot forget all of their children, grounding all of the "adult" happenings with a strange twinge of immaturity. 

But what makes the latest offering from Grace and Frankie better than its previous two seasons? 

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 6 "Burning Love"

 Previously: Episode 1 and 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, and Episode 5. 

by Spencer Coile

In the penultimate episode to HBO's actress juggernaut, Madeline comes to terms with her affair with Joseph and discovers Abigail's secret project: auctioning off her virginity to fight against sex trafficking. Celeste adopts an exit strategy from Perry... but also breaks his urethra. The memory of Jane's rape continues to haunt her, even after realizing that Saxon Baker was not the culprit, but when she finds out there's a petition going around school urging for Ziggy's suspension, she takes matters into her own hands and reconciles with Renata. Meanwhile, Avenue Q finally opens and musical theater fans rejoiced! 

With everything coming to a head in next week's finale, there are still so many questions left unanswered. Still, let's take a moment and reflect on the genius that was "Burning Love." 

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Feud: Bette and Joan "More or Less"

Previously
1 "Pilot"
2 "The Other Woman" 
3 "Mommie Dearest" 

by Eric Blume

Episode 4, “More, Or Less” marks the halfway point for Feud: Bette and Joan, and this episode focuses on power and limitations, not only for its title characters, but for everyone surrounding them.  

This episode sees both lead actresses confronted by a lack of offers after the completion of shooting Whatever Happed to Baby Jane?.  Susan Sarandon’s reaction to meeting her new young agent is priceless, and Jessica Lange has a “fuck you fellas” scene that feels right out of Mommie Dearest.  

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"Fargo" Teases Third Season of Polite Crime, Red Snow, and Twice the Ewan McGregor

by Daniel Crooke

For all of those hunkered snug in the cold and goin’ crazy down by the lake after a year of anticipation over the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo -- inspired, of course, by the Coen Brothers dark comedy of the same name, not to mention a buffet-filled bevy of narrative and thematic homages that span across their entire filmography -- here’s a home baked slice of warm comfort: the official trailer for the long-awaited return has finally been released.

While the idea of adapting the iconic Midwestern crime saga for the small screen may have once seemed to border on the sacrilegious, the first two seasons delivered enough satisfying, respectful riffs on the source material to silence its naysayers while also surprising audiences with its acute yet divergent grasp on the world and wit that made the original film so great. For my money, the second season’s political allegory around the bait and switch of small town community values with a nationalized corporate identity in 1980s America resonates even more presciently today than it did upon first air not too long ago. The teaser seems to hint at a desire to grapple further with contemporary themes in the United States, this time about class and the routine desperation growing within the gulf that separates economic strata.

Fargo series creator Noah Hawley wasn’t met with the same critical hosannas for his latest television project, the superhero-adjacent Legion on FX, but this trailer is rife with enough idiosyncratic potential to soothe any doubt one may hold for his next one. For starters, the mere prospect of Ewan McGregor playing against himself as hero and villain -- identical twins with opposing haircuts, no less – is enough to make you see double. Throw in the equisite supporting cast of Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and A Serious Man star Michael Stuhlbarg, and I’m counting down the days to the premiere on April 19.

The first two seasons of FX’s Fargo: ground worth retreading or not up to the legacy of the classic Coens film. What's your take?

Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 5 "Once Bitten"

Previously: episode 1 and 2, episode 3 and episode 4. Here's Nathaniel's take on Episode 5

In the fifth episode, we've reached what has to be a boiling point as Jane, Madeline, Celeste and Renata all seem to be coming absolutely unhinged simultaneously. Spoiler alert for the rest of this post: this show is just superb and it's giving us more actressing than we even know what to do with. *tosses roses at television*

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies. Episode 5 "Once Bitten"

10. Madeline's Dream
Bonus points to the show for having a sense of humor about its hardcore annoying refusal to let us know who was murdered. Also any Avenue Q reference is golden.  

09 "Bully Free Zone"
That damn bright yellow & red sign. 

Don't you feel like it's constantly just taunting everyone in the school? At least half of the adults in this show are bullies themselves and everyone seems so helplessly ill equipped to deal with bullying in school on top of their other issues... 

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