NEW SHOWS
The Night Of – “The Call of the Wild” (A-) / series finale
A lot more satisfying than I thought it would be. Yes, they could have treated Chandra better. (Though like almost every character here, her hubris brings her down.) But this is still a bleak ending for an exhilarating but depressing show. We may have finally gotten an answer as to who killed Andrea, but no (human) character is actually better off now than at the start of the series.
OLD SHOWS
The Office (Christmas Special)
“Part One” (B+)
“Part Two” (A-)
The first part makes David Brent even more unlikable than ever before, especially as he goes on a series of disastrous dates of women he finds beneath him (in a figurative sense). Yet when he finds happiness in the second part, it’s still kind of a triumphant moment. I still think the finale of “Part Two” would have been better had it ended a few minutes earlier, with Dawn weeping in the back of a taxi. But that seems too bleak for what Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant intended. I still cheered when Dawn came back to the office, kissed Tim, and grabbed his hand.
The Wire (Season 5) – “Took” (A)
Everyone’s made a fool, as their hubris comes crashing down. Rhonda finds that even with Clay Davis confessing on the stand, that’s not enough for a conviction. McNulty finds out that trying to bring some good karma by helping out a fellow officer has other people begging. And Greggs can’t even put together a damn crib. Unsurprisingly, the teleplay is great because it’s written by Richard Price, who just closed out the incredible The Night Of.