NEW SHOWS
Togetherness – “Geri-ina” (B)
Feels less like an organic development and more like moving the plot along. Some good moments as always, but nothing feels like it’s happening for anything other than moving to the finale.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “Paranoia” (A-)
The sharpest episode in awhile, but that might just be because I’m a sucker for bachelor/bachelorette party episodes. This also sets up some very interesting serialization for the final episodes, and I’m always a fan of this show doing that.
American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson – “Manna from Heaven” (A)
An intense, gut-wrenching hour as the release of tapes showing Det. Mark Furman uttering racial epithets and admitting to planting evidence could damage both sides’ arguments. The struggle over the tapes gets to the heart of this case: O.J. is absolutely guilty, but there’s no denying the LAPD has a history of abusing, killing and damaging black men through false testimony or planted evidence. As we’ll see in the finale, that will be enough for jurors to consider reasonable doubt.
The Americans – “Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow” (A-)
A great bit of misdirection. Everything’s building to Pastor Tim and his wife being killed by the KGB, and then Gabriel gets horribly sick (possibly from handling glanders) and may have infected Elizabeth, Philip and now William too.
CURRENT SHOWS
11.22.63
“The Rabbit Hole” (A-) / series premiere
“The Kill Floor” (A-)
A great start for a series that’s going to have a high degree of difficulty going forward. It will have to keep us engaged, since there are still six more episodes until we find out if Jake can stop Lee Harvey Oswald. But it will also have to stay believable, since we’re dealing with time travel and time fighting back against being changed. And will Jake have to start over at any point? Is there any chance he can save Al as well? I’m excited to find out.
OLD SHOWS
The Wire (Season 4) – “Final Grades” (A-) / season finale
Starts with Bubbles’ attempted suicide and just gets more depressing from there. Baltimore is a trap, a tomb, a prison. Whether you’re in the streets or behind bars, there is absolutely no escape. “We’re leaving them behind anyway,” Bunny tells two of the mayor’s staff. These kids, no matter how unprepared they are for the real world, are going to just move on and end up dealing drugs. There are no more options or left turns. An early death is all but inevitable. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cry.