What I Watched This Week: 4 Sept 2016

NEW SHOWS
Atlanta
“The Big Bang” (A-) / series premiere
“Streets on Lock” (B+)
An extremely confident pilot, followed by an extremely baffling follow-up (which I also loved). It’s early, but I doubt any new show this fall will live up to this show’s creativity, humor or diversity.

RECENT SHOWS
OJ: Made in America – “Part 1” (A-)
Provides crucial context for OJ’s difficult childhood and rise to prominence. Plants the seeds of OJ’s narcissism, charm, talent and intense desire to be disassociated with the black community. The most powerful scene, though, is when Jim Brown talks about standing up against the disparate treatment African-Americans received during the Jim Crow era, only to be met with a refrain of, “You’re a successful black athlete. What do you know about suffering?” The fact that we’re hearing similar criticisms lobbed at Colin Kaepernick today – fifty years later, no less – proves just how little we’ve come in race relations.

OLD SHOWS
The Wire (Season 5) – “Clarifications” (A-)
I knew it was coming at some point, but I didn’t expect Omar to be felled by a little kid – even if that kid was planning to set a cat on fire. It’s just one of many devastations as we come to the home stretch. The detail may be this close to catching Marlowe, but I’m not expecting anything good to come of it. Also, I hope Scott is fired in disgrace.

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