Reviews
Ozark: A Hard Way to Go (2022)
Rushed and missing details.
I see what they were going for, it's a solid commentary on how rich and powerful people can get what they want by any means necessary (and get away with it,) but it all happens too fast. Marty fully turning into a villain like Wendy, is realistic and in a lot of ways aligns with his character, but it all happens too fast. He goes from basically who he'd been since the beginning with a slightly darker past, to someone who would gladly suggest letting Ruth die, in the span of about three episodes. Wrongfully killing the cartel guy was a turning point for sure, but there was still a huge jump from the Marty who did that and the Marty who would blackmail Ruth and threaten her life and basically kill Sattem. We also barely see the cartel killing having an effect on him except that he worries Navarro will find out that he'd messed up. Compare that with Wendy's arc where her unraveling takes its time and allows us to see each step as she descents into pure evil. I think the main thing missing in Marty's arc is a true breaking point, Wendy realizing that she has to let Ben die is affective because it is perfectly rational but still breaks her, Mary never has that moment. Maybe that's what they wanted the car crash to be, but it fell very flat.
Another thing that didn't work for me was Jonah and Charlotte at the very end, maybe I missed something but them being that loyal to their parents at that point seemed WAY too soon. They were about to move in with their grandpa who they'd never met just to get away from them. What especially didn't work for me was Jonah being the one with the gun, Mel was there to get justice for what happened to Ben and I find it hard to believe that Jonah would be uninterested in getting that justice so quickly after reconciling with his parents; had this happened later it could've been a really chilling ending, but it was on theme for this episode and very rushed.
Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021)
Not a light. watch but definitely worth your time
If you have experience (and ideally some annoyance) with the brand of sitcoms that they're satirizing, "I hate my wife comedy" you will enjoy this show. Now I don't mean satire as in an SNL parody, no this show is very rarely funny and if you go into it expecting it to be equal parts sitcom and drama, you will be disappointed. This show is not a comedy, it's a drama that is critiquing a specific brand of comedy and a specific mold for leading men. It is a dark, gritty, drama. The first episode is a bit of a drag, mostly just establishing the premise and setting, but it does a good job of explaining the hatred for Kevin and Allison's frustration. This episode does a great Kobe of making us hate Kevin as well, and without that the show fails. But starting with episode two you really start to see the depth of the characters (who aren't Kevin.) It's also very worth noting that as the show goes on the multi cam portions become less insufferable and shorter, it's never funny (it's not meant to be) but you can see the purpose and how they advance the plot.
Allison is a very well written protagonist and her development as well as the development of her relationships with Sam, Patty, and even Kevin to an extent is very well thought out. About 4 episodes in I was worried that they would have to drag out the plot to get two two seasons but I was pleasantly surprised with where they went with it, I thought that the season one finale was one of the best episodes and the series finale was very satisfying, which is not easy to achieve with a show like this.
I highly recommend this show but it's important that you know what you're getting into. I've read too many reviews complaining that the sit com parts aren't funny and that is just missing the point.
Castle: The Time of Our Lives (2014)
Is this an alternate universe where this show sucks?
Oh my goodness, this episode is so beyond stupid. I had heard that this show goes downhill after season 5 but I never could've imagined that it could get this bad. I thought the invisibility thing was silly but this is a whole other level. Castle and Becket's relationship has had its moments and even carried the show at times, but lately the writers seem to be using them purely for fan service. We have known since day one that their relationship is why the show exists, Castle is there helping the NYPD because they have a connection and she is his "muse" or whatever. We do not need it spelled out to us how important they are to each other, and we really really really don't need this well written, GROUNDED, whodunnit cop show to have an alternate universe episode so to explain what the protagonists mean to each other. Then the corniness, from the I love you bringing him back to the sunset last minute moment with one of the worst green screens I've ever seen. I'm convinced they had them ((spoiler!!! Get married in this episode purely so fans wouldn't want to say that they hated it. I liked them together to some degree so I'm genuinely upset that this is how they got married)))
That is 45 minutes of my life I will never get back. Plus I hate to say it but their chemistry in this episode just isn't what it was in the earlier seasons, I think the writers must've thought that the show needed their yearning slow burn bs back but they utterly failed to recapture the magic. And a finial point, chalking up Castle and Alexis' entire relationship to his books selling well is deeply disrespectful to both characters. I mean geez oh man it's a procedural cop drama, could you really be THIS out of ideas?
Castle: Still (2013)
Clip shows are a plague on humanity.
There's some good stuff in this episode don't get me wrong, but this is supposed to be a cop show not a rom com. Look, great romance in crime dramas can overshadow the plot, yes. But the flashbacks to make us nostalgic and remind us of how much better their dynamic was in the early seasons is so useless. Good writing could give us these insights into their feeling without spending the majority of the episode showing us a montage of other episodes. I know these episodes exist because they don't have the budget for full seasons but there are better ways to fill the time, some of the best episodes in the history of television have been bottle episodes that exist for this exact reason. It also doesn't help that Castle and Becket's characters are annoying caricatures of themselves in this episode, by far the worst episode of the show so far. The fact that they tried to make the audience emotional at the end is a slap in the face and an insult to their intelligence.
Last note, Castle was definitely following her around at least partially because he liked playing cop.