Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/5/21 — 12/11/21

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been busy Christmas shopping and getting ready for 2022 so not much TV for me this week. That’s a good thing, right?

A Very Boy Band Christmas (Monday Night, ABC)

Merry Christmas, Joey Fatone! I watched this with my sister Erin and neither one of us makes any apologies.

The Bachelorette (Monday Night, ABC)

I lost interest in this season a few weeks ago but I did watch The Men Tell All on Monday. It was messy and yet somehow dull at the same time. Some of the men were earnest and some them were sleazy and some of them were just dumb but none of them were particularly interesting and the show really needs to get a real host because Tayshia and Kaitlyn have no idea how to lead an interview. At one point, one of the men served another one of them with a defamation lawsuit. “It’s getting heated here,” Tayshiya announced, “so let’s take a break to cool down.” Uhmm …. no, don’t cool down. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE ANYONE COOL DOWN! That’s not what the Men Tell All is all about. Later, Olu (rightfully) called out Chris for accusing him of having a low IQ. It was a dramatic moment but again, the two hosts has no idea how to capitalize on it. Instead, it was just time to bring out sleazy old Jamie. And don’t even get me started on the obviously staged bit with the streaker.

Anyway, I haven’t really been following this season but, judging from the Men Tell All, Michelle made the right decisions about who to send home.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I reviewed the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the mid-season finale here!

King of the Hill (Thursday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched several episodes of this classic sitcom while doing a little Christmas shopping. Some people feel that the show went downhill after Tom Petty joined the cast as Lucky the redneck but I always found Lucky to be funny. What can I say? I’m a Texas girl.

Parking Wars (Weekday Mornings, A&E)

I watched a few episodes on Monday. Everyone wanted to make sure the viewers knew that they were doing their jobs. It reminded me a bit of Frances McDormand in Fargo. “There’s no need to get snippy, I’m just doing my job.”

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Happy holidays, Chris! Thank you for your service.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

I guess it’s over. I watched the series finale and I enjoyed it about as much as I could reasonably expect to enjoy that finale for any show to which I haven’t paid much attention. Annoyingly, the story didn’t really end. Yes, a few characters died and a few escaped to live a new life but the walking dead are still wandering about, the paramilitary folks are still doing their thing, and the scientists are still trying to figure out what’s going on. The episode ended with hints that the zombie virus is evolving. That’s an interesting idea but it’s hard not to regret that the show itself didn’t do much with it when the show has the chance.

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.5 “Runaway” (dir by Marcos Siega)

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There was a lot of coincidences in the latest episode of Dexter. In fact, I would argue that there were perhaps more coincidences than were necessary.

For instance, I can accept that — having killed his latest victim — Kurt would just happen to drive up on Harrison while the latter was trying to run away from home. And I can accept that Kurt would possibly see Harrison as being a kindred spirit. It’s not just that Harrison and Kurt both have homicidal tendencies. It’s also that they’re both people who feel like they’re on the outside of normalcy looking in. Harrison probably reminds Kurt of himself as a teenager and, by mentoring Harrison, it’s possible that Kurt can try to fix the mistakes that he made while raising Matt. Either that or he just wants to make Harrison his new partner in his side hustle, murdering hitchhikers.

I can accept all of that. I mean, this is Dexter that we’re talking about. Dexter requires a certain suspension of disbelief in order for the show to work. If you spend too much time focusing on the chances of two serial killers actually ending up in the same small town in upstate New York, you’re never going to have time to appreciate Dexter’s sense of the macabre.

However, the show also asked me to believe that Angela and Molly would just happen to be in New York at the same time as Angel (David Zayas) and that Angel would just happen to be talking about the murders previously committed by the man that Angela now knows as Jim Lindsay. I mean, it was good to see Angel again and I’m glad he’s still wearing the hat but his sudden appearance was a bit too convenient. It was also very convenient that, earlier in the episode, a drugged Harrison told Audrey that his father was using a fake name and that Audrey later told Angela, at the exact moment that Angela was having her first doubts about Jim/Dexter. The episode ended with Angela printing out an old obituary for Dexter Morgan, one that featured Dexter’s picture.

From the start of Dexter: New Blood, it has been obvious that Angela was going to learn that Jim was actually Dexter. We all knew it was going to happen but I was hoping that Angela would learn the secret as the result of her own investigations, as opposed to just happening to attend the same random conference as someone from Dexter’s past. Audrey very easily could have just told Angela what Harrison told her and Angela could have then done some investigating on her own. Having her randomly stumble across the truth felt like a bit of a disservice to the character. It felt like the type of groan-worthy plot twist that far too often popped up during the final seasons of the show’s original run.

So, yes, I was a bit disappointed. A lot of this episode felt like filler. Dexter returned to his serial killer ways to take out a drug dealer but, in another coincidence, Logan showed up to arrest the dealer before Dexter could actually do his full ceremony. (Interestingly enough, the same thing happened with Kurt when his latest victim refused to run when he ordered her to.) So, Dexter had to force the man to overdose on drugs before making a hasty retreat. That was probably for the best, considering that Dexter still hasn’t found a good place to dump the bodies.

Still, there were a few intriguing moments in this episode. I’m liking the idea of Harrison having to potentially choose between two serial killing mentors and Clancy Brown continues to give a strong performance as Kurt. And, regardless of how she discovered the information, I’m looking forward to seeing Angela confront Dexter.

One final note: I still don’t think Kurt is working alone. I think Olsen is somehow involved. It wouldn’t surprise me if Molly was somehow involved too. Seriously, if Molly isn’t secretly a killer then she’s just an extremely annoying character. On a show like this, it’s always better to be a killer as opposed to just annoying. Either way, we’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/28/21 — 12/4/21

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week working on Christmas stuff but I did watch a few shows.

Bar Rescue (Weekday Mornings, Paramount)

I watched three episodes while I was trying to wake up on Wednesday. Jon Taffer and “the experts” yelled at a lot of owners and reduced their employees to tears but I guess it’s all worth it in order to make sure that alcoholics have a fun place to hang out. The third episode that I watched was actually filmed in my hometown and I totally recognized the bar that Jon was rescuing. (I don’t drink so I’m usually the girl at the bar who gets weird looks for asking for a glass of water.) Jon described my hometown as being upper middle class. Thanks, Jon!

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

On Friday, I watched episode 14 of this show. There were three subplots, all of which were repeats of storyline that had previously happened on the original Baywatch. An all-nude protest went wrong. Sean flirted with the new boss. JD and Jessie bickered about their relationship. Despite being top-billed in the credits, David Hasselhoff was only in the show for a minute, boarding a plane back to Los Angeles. It’s hard not to feel that the Hoff just wasn’t that invested in Baywatch Hawaii. For that matter, neither am I. This show only lasted two seasons and it’s still taken me a month and a half to even make it through the first half of the first season.

I then watched Episode 15, which was weird. Basically, it started with Jessie getting lost in an underwater maze. Once she was rescued, suddenly it become about Jason and Allie working together on the beach and Jason being haunted by the death of a previous lifeguard. And then Dawn went on a date with some strange guy who insulted her by assuming that he knew everything about her. I know where Dawn’s coming from but still, none of these random stories really seemed to go together. One gets the feeling that this episode’s script was a combination of scenes that had been cut out of previous episodes. Again, it’s hard not to suspect that the people in charge of the show just didn’t care.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I reviewed Dexter here!

Dude, You’re Screwed (Friday Morning, Discovery)

So, I guess the idea behind this show is that three ex-military guys toss some someone in a hostile environment and then they watch to see if that person can make it back to civilization without dying in the process. On the episode that I watched, they stranded some guy in Tanzania and then watched as he spent two days being chased by lions and trying to run in 98-degree heat. Luckily, the guy did make it back to civilization. He met some local hunters who were on the verge of killing him for trespassing before the hosts showed up to whisk him away.

It was kind of a fun show actually.

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode here!

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Wednesday Night, FXX)

Yay! The Gang’s back and they’re as terrible as ever! Two new episodes aired on Wednesday, featuring the gang fearlessly taking on the brave new world of the 2020s. In the first episode, they discussed what they did during 2020 and what they spent their PPP money on. In the second episode, they made Lethal Weapon 7, while trying to avoid remaking the mistakes that they made with Lethal Weapon 5 and Lethal Weapon 6. They’re a terrible group of people and I love them. They’re what this country needs right now.

Killer Cases (Wednesday Night, A&E)

The latest episode of this A&E true crime series took a look at the murder of Mollie Tibbets. On the one hand, I feel like shows like this are terribly exploitive and insensitive. On the other hand, I always end up watching. So, I’m as much of a hypocrite as anyone.

The Office (Everyday, Comedy Central)

I watched two episodes from season 3 on Thursday night. The thing is …. Jim knew that Andy had anger issues so hiding his phone and then repeatedly calling it through the day was really a dick move on his part. Bullying is never cool, Jim!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Oh, hey, this is back! Chris Hardwicke did his best to try to make Walking Dead: World Beyond sound interesting. I respected him for trying.

Upstart Crow (Sunday Night, PBS)

After being absent from PBS for a few months, Upstart Crow returned on Sunday. PBS aired the show’s three Christmas specials, though not in chronological order.

As such, the first Christmas special that was aired was actually the show’s third, from December of 2020. In this special, Will and Kate were stuck in Will’s London home, under quarantine due to the Bubonic Plague. As Will tried to write a “Scottish play,” they discussed how the world had changed due to the plague. Needless to say, it was a pretty obvious and heavy-handed commentary on the UK during the Coronavirus lockdowns. The episode was both hopeful and angry. It had its funny moments but overall, it was a rather dark episode. Then again, December of 2020 was a rather dark time for many people.

This was followed by “A Christmas Crow,” which was the show’s fist Christmas Special. Airing long before COVID (or, for that matter, the episode the featured the death of Will’s son), A Christmas Crow was an enjoyably light-hearted “look” at how Eighth Night became Twelfth Night. Emma Thompson appeared as Queen Elizabeth I and was funny, sympathetic, and somewhat terrifying.

The final Christmas special shown was “A Crow Christmas Carol.” Still mourning the death of his son, Shakespeare met a mysterious stranger (Kenneth Branagh) who told him a story about a miser who changed his ways after being visited by three ghosts. Shakespeare and his friends attempted to pull the same thing on the villainous Robert Greene in an attempt to get Greene to change his ways. The highlight of this episode was, not surprisingly, Kenneth Branagh’s effectively creepy cameo as the Stranger.

Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

Eh. Who knows? There was a lot of death and paramilitary stuff going on. The show briefly had my attention a few weeks ago but the last few episode have just been kind of dull. It’s nearly over.

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.4 “H is for Hero” (dir by Sanford Bookstaver)

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Boom! I predicted Harrison would be a budding serial killer so give it up for me!

Well, to be honest, I’m probably not the only person who predicted that. I haven’t been reading any other reviews of Dexter: New Blood beyond my own but Harrison turning out to have a dark passenger shouldn’t be a shocking development to anyone who watched the original Dexter series. The way that the Trinity Killer killed Rita was obviously designed to turn Harrison into a killer. There was even an episode during season 5 in which Dexter investigated whether or not Trinity’s son had taken up his father’s bad habits. (And let’s not forget that, in the books, Dexter quickly realized that Rita’s children were sociopaths.) Harrison following in his father’s footsteps was something that was set in motion long ago. It’s an inevitable development. The only question really is whether or not Harrison has killed before or if his attempt to kill his high school friend was his first dry run. And will Dexter forgive his son, partner with his son, destroy his son, or be destroyed by his son?

While I’m patting myself on the back for being correct about Harrison, I should also admit that it appears that I was wrong about the identity of the killer sniper. I was sure that it was going to be Olsen but the end of this episode seems to suggest that it’s Kurt. Of course, Kurt could be working with Olsen. Considering what’s happened in past seasons of Dexter, it wouldn’t be a shock to discover that the Sniper is actually more than one man. Perhaps Matt was a part of the organization as well. I mean, he certainly was trigger happy.

It was a good episode. I’m cringing a little bit at the character of Molly Park, if just because she sometimes seems like a boomer’s version of what a podcaster is like. (“Those crazy kids, with their cursing and their drunk sex….”) But, I do think there is some potential to her “alliance” with Angela. I also felt the fallout of the school stabbing was handled well, particularly Harrison’s new status as the town hero. In many ways, Harrison is living Dexter’s fantasy. He’s killing (or nearly killing) and he’s being celebrated for it. He’s a hero, just like Dexter always wanted to be.

(That said, even I could tell that Harrison obviously stabbed himself. Have the people in this town never watched an old episode of CSI?)

For me, the best part of the revival remains Ghost Deb. She really deservers her own show, though plotlines would probably be limited by the fact that she’s just a figment of Dexter’s imagination. Still, Jennifer Carpenter was one of the key parts of what made the original Dexter such an entertaining series and the way that show’s final season rather cavalierly killed her off is one of the many reasons why so many people hated the original finale. Though Ghost Deb may not be solving crimes, she’s still calling everyone on their bullshit. It’s good to have her back, in all of her profane glory.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/21/21 — 11/27/21

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Between my sister’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and my attempts to get caught up on my Lifetime movie viewing, I didn’t watch much TV this week. Here’s some thoughts on what did I see:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

With the long-distance duck making its way (very slowly) to London, Rene and the Resistance disguised themselves as doctors and nurses so that they could rescue Monsieur Alphonse from the hospital. Meanwhile, the German colonels plotted to assassinate Alphonse with an exploding bedpan. It was a bit of an odd episode but I still laughed.

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

On Friday, I continued my binge of the first season of Baywatch Hawaii, watching three episodes.

Episode 11 featured a bit of tragedy for the Baywatch Hawaii team. No sooner had Allie declared her love for Nick, the hunky coast guard helicopter pilot, than Nick ended up sacrificing his life so that two dummies trapped in a mini-sub could live. David Hasselhoff made a brief appearance so that he could presumably collect his a paycheck and also so that Mitch could declare, “Nick wasn’t a lifeguard but he died being one.” That’s actually probably why he died.

Episode 12 featured some JD/Jessie relationship drama, as it was revealed that JD and Dawn had previously worked together and had a relationship in Florida. I’m assuming that JD and Jessie broke up over the fact that JD kept it a secret, though the ending of this episode kind of left things in the air. There was also an odd subplot about JD inventing a new type of wet suit that allowed lifeguard to swim faster than dolphins. It was an oddly disjointed episode (and I haven’t even gotten into the subplots about the missing child and Dawn getting named in a wrongful death suit) but it did end with a nicely surreal scene of the lifeguards relaxing underwater while fireworks exploded in the sky above.

Speaking of surreal, that’s the only way to describe Episode 13. A man was recovered after drowning. Despite having been underwater and medically dead for 20 minutes, he was still revived with absolutely no brain damage or any other injuries. This led to Dawn and Sean exploring an underwater meditation technique that Dawn learned in India. Sean was freaked out by a vision that he had in which Dawn appeared to be trying to drown him. MEANWHILE, Jessie, Allie, and Kekoa went shopping! Yay! This led to them getting invited to a party on a boat and it also led to them having to strip down to their newly-purchased lingerie (in slow motion, of course) in order to save a group of stranded swimmers. It was weird mix of philosophy and prurience and, to be honest, it was kind of brilliant in a Baywatch sort of way.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Sunday Night, PBS)

A few years ago, my sister wrote about why this special is something to give thanks for.

Cowboys vs. Raiders (Thursday Afternoon, CBS)

Because it was Thanksgiving, I kind of watched this football game with my family. Most of my cousins really got into it. Myself, I’m just hoping that no one suffered any permanent injuries and that both teams had a nice Thanksgiving meal after the game ended. I was a little bit disappointed when the game went into overtime. I mean, they already had the tie. There was no need to hurt anyone’s feelings! Still, with their enthusiastic spirit and their can-do attitude, both teams were winners!

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter here!

Fear the Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode here!

King of the Hill (Sunday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched three classic episodes on Sunday afternoon. Khannie and the Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience went to Branson. (“She’s good …. she’s Branson good!”) Peggy was conned by the president of the fictitious Genius Institute but she got her money back by pulling a con of her own. Finally, Hank tried to convince his father to allow the local Vietnam vets to join the local VFW.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright tried to impress Nurse Gladys Emmanuel while Granville bitterly considered the pointlessness of his life.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

This week brought us another slowly paced episode of Walking Dead: World Beyond. I guess the scientists and the main family are trying to break out of the paramilitary compound now? Well, that’s probably a good idea.

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.3 “Smoke Signals” (dir by Sanford Bookstaver)

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s been a busy week, with my sister’s birthday and Thanksgiving, so it was only this morning that I finally got a chance to watch the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood.

A lot happened in Smoke Signals. In fact, it was probably the busiest episode of the series so far. That’s not a complaint, of course. If anything, this episode felt like a classic episode of the first Dexter series. In Miami, there was always a lot going on around Dexter while Dexter tried to figure out a way to dispose of his latest victim. The latest episode would seem to suggest that, chilly weather aside, upstate New York is not that much different from Dexter’s former home.

Here’s a quick rundown of what did happen:

First off, Lily the hitchhiker was killed by the serial killer who we all know is going to turn out to be Olsen.

Harrison is now a student at the local high school. He stood up to group of bullies, which was cool. But, by grabbing the bully by throat and basically strangling him while demanding that the bully leave his friends alone, Harrison confirmed my suspicion that he’s got his own Dark Passenger.

Audrey, who is kind of annoying, told Olsen to stop “fucking up the planet.” Olsen pointed out that Audrey drives an “old gas guzzler.” It seems kind of obvious to me that, along with being a Count Zaroff-style serial killer, Olsen is also Audrey father.

Angela continued to investigate Matt’s death and Dexter again found himself in the weird position of being the closest confidant to the people investigating a murder that he committed.

Dexter spent most of the episode trying to figure out how to get rid of Matt’s body. It turned out to be not as easy as he thought it would be. Eventually, after watching the Seneca people burn the body of the deer that Matt shot, it occurred to Dexter to do the same thing with Matt.

No sooner had Dexter finished stuffing Matt in the incinerator than he ran into Matt’s father, Kurt. Kurt was totally drunk and swore that he had just had a conversation with Matt and that Matt was still alive! I’m interested to see what the show does with the character of Kurt. At first, I thought he’d just be another person who would eventually come too close to revealing the truth about Dexter, like Doakes from the first two seasons. But the end of the latest episode, with Dexter driving the drunk Kurt home, suggested that their relationship could become a bit more complex.

For myself, the highlight of this episode was Ghost Deb, who spent the entire show popping up at the least opportune times and profanely taunting Dexter over his inability to get rid of Matt’s body. Ghost Deb had a point. Dexter is out of practice and his idea that he could somehow turn his urges on-and-off was a foolish one. Dexter should know better. Ghost Deb and the wood chipper was a great Dexter moment.

All in all, it was a good episode. I do wish that Olsen was a bit less obvious in his villainy but Dexter was never exactly known for its nuanced villains. The Trinity Killer was more the exception than the rule. That said, I’m interested to see where all of this stuff with Harrison leads. Is Harrison a killer-in-training and, if so, how is Dexter going to deal with that?

Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/14/21 — 11/20/21

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s that time again. Here’s some thoughts on what I watched over the past seven days:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

Finally! It was time for the long-distance duck to fly from France to London, carrying with it the plans for the German invasion of England. Unfortunately, the duck itself really didn’t feel like flying, which led to Rene and Edith having to chase it around the courtyard while Michelle and the two airmen watched from a balcony above. Meanwhile, everyone was trying to figure out what to do with the forged money that Rene stole from the bank. It was a funny episode. I relate to Michelle.

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

I had a really tough day on Tuesday so I decided to unwind and calm myself down by continuing my binge of the first season of Baywatch Hawaii. This, of course, was the sequel to Baywatch, in which the Hoff moved to Hawaii and helped to train a new group of lifeguards.

I started things off with watching the 9th episode of the series, which was called The Hunt. It featured Jessie investigating a case of shark poaching and Jason trying to come to terms with his Hawaiian heritage. In the end, the poaches were defeated, Jessie was rescued after her jet ski sank, and Jason proved himself to be worthy of the islands by having some sort of weird mind-meld with a shark. “The shark is my brother,” Jason explained. Yay! Incidentally, the poacher’s boat was named “All She Rote,” which was kind of clever. This was followed by a treasure hunt episode, where the lifeguards mistakenly believed that they had found a long-lost treasure. I’m pretty sure this was a remake an old Baywatch episode, with gold instead of doubloons.

Cold Case (Weekday, Afternoons, Start TV)

On Tuesday’s episode, Lily and the gang investigated the 1967 murder of a brush salesman. Speaking of brushes, Lily could have used one because her hair was a mess. I will never understand why Lily never did anything about that.

Court Cam (Wednesday, A&E)

A&E always airs several episodes of Court Cam on Wednesday and they do tend to blend together. For some reason, this week, there were a lot of clips of defendants cussing out their judges. That’s never a good courtroom strategy. One fellow got 360 days for contempt of court, though it was later reduced to 90 days. Ironically, he only served 5 days for the crime that he was initially charged with. Seriously, be polite when talking to a judge.

Crossing Jordan (Weekday Afternoons, Start TV)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday. Jordan was cranky while Bugs was again being targeted by bigots and Homeland Security. That was pretty much the plot of every single episode of Crossing Jordan, yet somehow everyone on the show always acted as if the same thing didn’t keep happening over and over again.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode of Fear the Walking Dead here!

Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Monday Morning, BBC America)

I watched two of my favorite episodes on Monday morning, Mr. Pither’s Cycling Tour and The Ministry of Silly Walks. I especially love Mr. Pither, if just because Michael Palin did such a wonderful job playing the well-meaning but utterly clueless cyclist. “My lack of God, it’s Trotsky!”

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright cheated his customers by pretending to be blind. Granville took a heap of abuse. They both attempted to provide better customer service at their little shop. It didn’t go well.

Shipping Wars (Tuesday Morning, A&E)

It amazes me that everyone who ever appeared on this show — whether they were a regular or just a customer — was a complete and total jerk. I watched several episodes of Tuesday morning and I can’t think of one episode that featured anyone who was the least bit likable.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Three’s Company (Weekday Afternoons, Antenna TV)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday. Believe it or not, both of them revolved around simple misunderstandings that could have been solved in a matter of minutes if all of the characters on the show weren’t so stupid.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

I think what’s frustrating about this show is that it works best when it focuses on the teens growing up in a world where society has collapsed but, for some reason, the show keeps getting sidetracked with all of the adults. I don’t care about the adults but sometimes, the majority of the show seems to be made up of scenes of them sitting around and having hushed conversations. It gets boring!

Yes, Minister (PBS, Monday Morning)

I rewatched the episode where Jim becomes Prime Minister. Yay, Jim!

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.2 “Storm of Fuck” (dir by Marcos Siega)

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The second episode of Dexter: New Blood had a title that I’m sure Deb would have appreciated.

Indeed, any Deb-centric episode of the first series of Dexter was always guaranteed to feature a storm of profanity and one of the the things that I always liked about Dexter is that everyone on the show was always as shocked by Deb’s language as the viewer was. Ghost Deb tends to curse a lot as well. Of course, Ghost Deb has her reasons. Not only is she dead but she can’t get her stupid stepbrother to listen to her advice. Ghost Deb told Dexter not to let Harrison stay in the cabin. She told Dexter that everyone he gets close to dies. And yet, over the course of Storm of Fuck, Dexter not only invited Harrison to live with him but he also took Harrison along with him while he covered up the previous episode’s murder of Matt Caldwell. (Of course, he didn’t tell Harrison what he was actually doing. Dexter is very good at keeping his secrets.)

A few thoughts on Storm of Fuck:

First off, it’s pretty obvious that the girl in the motel is going to be used as the target in some version of The Most Dangerous Game, right? And it’s also pretty obvious that Edward Olsen is the one behind it. It’s in no way a big surprise because Dexter has always been full of evil, rich serial killers. It also seems fairly obvious that Audrey is eventually going to end up getting hunted by Olsen.

Secondly, I don’t think Matt’s father (played by Clancy Brown) is a serial killer but I do think that he’s going to eventually figure out what Dexter did to his son. He’ll be the New Blood‘s equivalent of James Doakes, the man who knows the truth but can’t get anyone to listen to him.

Third, Harrison has totally murdered someone, right? I mean, he may not be a serial killer. And the events of Storm of Fuck would seem to indicate that he doesn’t have anything to do with any of the recent missing persons cases. But, obviously, he’s got some secrets. What did he do back when he was on drugs? Was he even on drugs or was that just something he said? Are those drawings of people who he knows or people he killed? When he read Dexter’s letter about “dark tendencies,” was he upset because he discovered Dexter was alive or was it because he knew that he did have those dark tendencies? My point is that Harrison is destined to follow in his father’s bloody footsteps eventually.

As for the rest of Storm of Fuck, it was an okay episode. It didn’t exactly move the story forward by much but it did allow us a chance to get to know all of the new characters. To me, this episode worked best as an example of the show’s often underrated use of dark humor. As macabre as the subject matter often is, it’s hard not to laugh at the contrast between Michael C. Hall’s deadpan voice-over and the events happening on screen. And, in grand Dexter tradition, the entire episode featured Dexter getting one lucky break after another until, during the final few minutes, everything fell apart. Dexter had nearly gotten everyone away from his cabin when Kurt Caldwell showed up and gave a rousing speech. On any other show, we would have cheered a community coming together and Kurt’s speech would have been a big hero moment.

On Dexter, though, it’s just a storm of fuck.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/7/21 — 11/13/21

Posted on November 13, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This was my birthday week and I’m happy to say that I spent a lot more time celebrating than watching television. Here’s what little — I do mean very little — I did watch.

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

With the colonels now free from the Communist Resistance, it was up to Rene and the café residents to figure out what to do with all of the stolen money. Of course, in typical Allo Allo fashion, it turned out that hiding money was much more complicated than stealing it, especially with Herr Flick determined to catch the culprits. Officer Crabtree showed up to show everyone a picture of the, “sispoocts,” which turned out to be his way of saying, “suspects.”

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the first episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I reviewed the latest episode of Fear The Walking Dead here.

The Office (Comedy Central)

On Saturday morning, I watched the “Did I Stutter” episode of The Office, which features not only one of Steve Carrel’s best performances from Michael but also great work from Leslie David Baker as Stanley. I also related to Pam and her total blindness without her contacts or her glasses.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

You can read my thoughts on the latest episode here!

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

Apparently, I was just not in a Walking Dead mood this week. I didn’t care much for Fear The Walking Dead‘s latest episode and the latest episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond was boring as well. I may just be bored with zombies, who knows?

TV Review: Dexter New Blood 1.1 “Cold Snap” (dir by Marcos Siega)

Posted on November 13, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

When last we saw erstwhile serial killer Dexter Morgan, he had faked his death, fled Miami, and was apparently working as a lumberjack in Oregon.

That was how Showtime’s Dexter originally ended, back in 2013. It was not a popular ending and yet, I don’t think anyone was expecting to be satisfied by Dexter’s finale. In retrospect, the highpoint of Dexter came during season 4, during the arc involving John Lithgow at the Trinity Killer. The four seasons that came after the conclusion of that storyline could never quite escape the shadow of the battle of wills between Lithgow and Michael C. Hall. Seasons 5, 6, and 7 all felt somewhat superfluous while season 8 seemed to go off the rails entirely. As a result, I think everyone was mentally prepared to be let down by however the show ended but still, people were hoping for a little more than Dexter in Oregon.

Fortunately, Dexter Morgan is back! Dexter: New Blood, which premiered last Sunday on Sunday, picks up ten years after the conclusion of Dexter. Dexter (played by Michael C. Hall, of course) is no longer living in Oregon. In fact, in the first episode, Oregon was never even mentioned. Instead, Dexter is now living in upstate New York. He’s using the name Jim Lindsay. He works at a sporting goods store. He’s dating the local chief of police, Angela Bishop (Julia Jones). He’s a popular citizen. Everyone like Jim. Everyone thinks that they know Jim. Of course, what they don’t know is that Jim is actually Dexter, a serial killer who once specialized in killing other murderers. They also don’t know that Dexter spends a good deal of his spare time talking to the ghost of his dead stepsister, Deb (Jennifer Carpenter, taking on the mentor role that James Remar played in the original series). Deb continually tells Dexter that he can’t get close to anyone. Anyone to whom Dexter gets close dies. Of course, even in death, Deb doesn’t seem to understand that Dexter isn’t capable of being genuinely close with anyone.

When Cold Snap, the first episode, begins, it’s been ten years since Dexter killed anyone, though it’s obvious that he still has the urge. Dexter’s ten-year break comes to an end when he meets Matt Caldwell (Steve M. Robertson), a spoiled rich kid who, several years earlier, was involved in a boating accident that killed five people. When Dexter learns that Matt intentionally smashed into the other boat and then when Matt later shoots a rare albino stag that Dexter had spent days tracking, Dexter’s Dark Passenger returns. Interestingly enough, it turns out that, despite being inactive for ten years, Dexter still has a perfect murderer’s lair inside his cabin’s shed. Before Dexter ritualistically kills Matt, Matt says that his father is going to kill Dexter. Who is Matt’s father? I’m sure we’ll find out soon. A part of me suspects that it might be Edward Olsen (Fredric Lehne), a billionaire who is planning on doing business in the town. I also suspect that Olsen is probably connected to the disappearances of several young women in the area. Wealthy businessmen often turned out to be serial killers on Dexter.

Speaking of fathers, Dexter is also a father. He abandoned his son, Harrison, in Miami ten years ago. Now, the teenage Harrison (Jack Alcott) has tracked Dexter down. At first, Dexter pretended not to know who Harrison was and he gave Harrison money to buy a ticket on the next bus out of town. However, at the end of the episode, Dexter, fresh from murdering Matt, showed up at the bus station, sat down next to Harrison, and said, “I am Dexter Morgan.”

It was an interesting ending and a bit frightening considering everything that we know about Dexter. Ghost Deb is right. People who get close to Dexter do end up dying. That said, we really don’t know much about Harrison. In the books, Dexter was often concerned that Rita’s stepchildren, Cody and Astor, had their own dark passengers. To the best of my memory, that wasn’t really explored on the television show with Harrison but what if Harrison does turn out to be a serial killer? Even worse, what if Harrison turns out to be a serial killer who, like his father, only targets other serial killers? Would Dexter have to kill Harrison or would Harrison have to kill Dexter? But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. As of the first episode, the only thing we know for sure is that Harrison managed to track his father down.

I was intrigued by the first episode of Dexter: New Blood, though I have to admit that most of that was due to the hints of what could happen in the future as opposed to what actually did happen in the episode. As I said at the start of this review, the first four seasons of Dexter were brilliant. The final four seasons were increasingly uneven. Just as it’s hard for Dexter to run the risk of getting close to anyone, it’s also hard for us viewers to run the risk of fully embracing this revival because we’ve all seen first hand that there are limits to how far Dexter‘s concept can be taken without things falling apart. It’s probably not surprising that the reviews for this episode were mixed. Variety liked it. The AV Club and Rolling Stone complained that it was too violent. The generic online reviewer of today often seems more concerned with hitting the right talking points and satisfying the online mob than with actually giving thought to such quaint considerations at to whether or not a show is entertaining or if it actually holds your interest. Dexter: New Blood held my interest and it was entertaining enough for me to set the DVR to record next week’s episode. To me, that qualifies as a successful episode.

So far, Dexter: New Blood feels like it could be a return to the Dexter of those first four seasons. Michael C. Hall remains a compelling presence. I’m interested to see how things develop with Harrison. I’m glad Dexter got the Hell out of Oregon. I’ll be watching.