We are at the point now where I have to consciously remind myself to type 25 instead of 24. I literally cannot believe we are 25 years into this century. I feel like those people who were turn of the century back in the 1900’s, who are now in the roaring 20’s, enjoying the jazz age, totally unaware of the coming Great Depression or WWII. Like, what the hell is ahead?
TV Shows Watched: Skeleton Crew: S1E6 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Squid Game: S1E4 (Netflix) with audio description, Laid: S1E6 (Peacock) with audio description, 911: S8E3 (Hulu) with audio description, Ghosts: S4E7 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Extraordinary: S2E4 (Hulu) STILL no audio description, The Diplomat: S2E5 (Netflix) with audio description, and Landman: S1E4 (Paramount Plus) with audio description
Movies Watched: The Listener (Amazon) no audio description, The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Ended (Hulu) no audio description, The Wasp (MGM Plus) no audio description, Breathe (Paramount Plus) no audio description
I’ve been checking out a lot of critics I follow, who published their Best/Worst lists, and found some titles floating on services. Sadly, none had audio description. Not all were on the “Best” lists either.
Best Episode: Squid Game- I told you. Prepare yourself. Seven episodes, and I don’t expect anything will dethrone it. We got a little more character development, we are still seeing what is happening with the gang trying to find the island, and we saw what I expected would happen… a new game. It was never going to be that easy. I will say, an odd spot to end the episode, but still a strong episode.
Runner Up (Three way Tie)- Laid, The Diplomat, Skeleton Crew: I had a much better time with TV today, and it is hard to pick which one is the runner up. A very clear winner, but three strong episodes, but all three have had better episodes this season, so I’ll tie all three.
Best Performance: Zosia Mamet (Laid)- She’s been on top once before, and seeing AJ react to the betrayal was fun, as she went through and made the audience aware of just how many stuffed animals she had to throw away. I couldn’t imagine Ruby without AJ, and I’m glad I likely won’t have to. This seems like a limited, but these two actresses need a second season together.
Runner Up: Allison Janney (the Diplomat)- One of the brighter spots of the lackluster Palm Royale, Janney once again proves her indispensable quality by transplanting into another political drama, feeling very different from another AJ we all know and love, and bringing Keri Russell a much needed scene partner to spar with. She was excellent this episode.
Special Achievement In Being Far Better Than The Thing You Are In: Angela Bassett (911)- This show does not deserve her. This plot they have kicking off Season 8 is one of the dumbest plots given to a series. I’m sure it sounded cool to whichever 12 year old came up with it. Bassett is in every scene like she wants to still win that Oscar. She never phones it in. Not once.
best Audio Description: Squid Game- Just accept it. there are only 3 episodes left, but it is far and away winning. Check out the Best Moments, for reasons why.
Runner Up: Skeleton Crew?- So, I say this with a bit of trepidation, but I realize, when it was said, i had no idea what the context of “spider legs” meant in relation to the character. I didn’t know if it meant long legs, legs that bend like a spider, or that she has eight legs. I needed something in that moment, and it made me wonder if there was anything else I missed along the way. I’ve caught that in the other episodes, they’ve been dropping a lot of description on the kids as we go, and in that moment, i had a question. however, this is still a giant science fiction show that described a massive monster crab, space pirates, weird trash chutes, putting a chip into someone’s head, and a bunch of other things rather well.
Best Moment Of Audio Description: Squid Game- I think we never really gave much thought to what happens with the bodies, but this episode answered that, and the audio description detail was really good. Not just in the goriest of scenes, but there were little things like putting that little black mark on one of the coffins. It is becoming a part of Season 2’s narrative, and I thought the attention to detail, as we explored this element was really well done.
Runner Up: Landman- The accident. There’s a workplace accident (yes, another one) and the description of the accident itself, plus the other characters rushing in to try and help was really well done.
Worst Episode: 911- I mean, I’m gonna keep watching, but this thing where the planes had a midair collision, and Athena’s flying this broken plane and landing it on a highway is fundamentally stupid. The audio description is fine.
Worst Performance: Again, it is definitely someone in Landman. I’m trying to narrow it down. I don’t like either of his kids, and the attorney doesn’t work for me either. But, someone in this cast is the answer to this question. It becomes more evident anytime someone has to act opposite Thornton, Hamm, or Moore, that they spent all the budget on three big and great actors, and then just found some kids in an acting class for the rest.
Worst Audio Description: Seriously, Hulu, it has been months. I’m working on my “best Of 2024” lists, and I really do want to give Extraordinary a fair shot, but you still haven’t put the existing audio track on your own damn show. I literally cannot with Hulu sometimes. If I had a genie, I’d wish to become the CEO of Hulu so I could fire everyone. Start over from scratch. Runner Up: I can’t go without mentioning that I watched 4 movies without audio description. I don’t know if these films had audio description at some point, and I’m certain three had theatrical releases. So, what happened? did they all release theatrically without audio description, or are Paramount, Hulu, Amazon, and MGM Plus too lazy to bring the audio description along? For the record, The Listener is maybe the one non-documentary of 2024 that I would not give the grade of “Unwatchable Due To Lack of Audio Descrition’ to. A review will come, but it stars Tessa Thompson as a crisis hotline operator. One location. one actress. Everyone else is over the phone. It is essentially listening to a series of phone conversations for 90 minutes.
