Just. Keep. Swimming.
TV News: While I have not officially removed The Pit from my broader watchlist, it is way down the list, but I’m intrigued that MAX has renewed the show for a second season. And if you are a fan, you can celebrate.
TV Shows Watched: Severance: S2E5 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Love You To Death: S1E2 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Celebrity Bear hunt: S1E4 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: Original Sin: Season Finale (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Shifting Gears: S1E6 (Hulu) with audio description, Pop Culture Jeopardy: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, The Daily Show: Thursday (Paramount Plus) with audio description, and Abbott Elementary: S4E15 (Hulu) with audio description
best Episode: Severance- Once again, the most technically perfect show I’m watching, and it is doing an even better job in the second season of truly weaving a web of mystery. It feels much darker as a show, and the ensemble even has a very different dynamic, which is highlighted by this episode.
Runner Up: The Daily Show- Say, what? Look. I can barely process the news, so getting it even without audio description in a way with some levity is all I can handle as my rights are stripped. But, I actually put this episode up here because the guest was Brady Corbett, the Oscar nominated director of The Brutalist. I thought he was a delightful guest, and I really enjoyed what he had to say.
Best Performance: Patrick Dempsey (Dexter: Original Sin)- I had a feeling. But, I wasn’t 100% sure after the pilot because Sarah Michelle Gellar also felt like a big name who could be pushed in a similar direction. Though, later in the season, it became clear who would be Dexter’s biggest foe, even as he had a setup for a season 2 villain late in the game. Dempsey doesn’t make for an obvious choice as a bad guy. I remember laughing in Scream 3 when there’s a scene where they think his character might be the killer, and Dempsey toyed with being evil. He was so bad at it. here, he’s clearly learned a lot, because as Dexter barreled toward the finale, Dempsey cranked it up and burst into every scene. It was a performance I thought he was incapable of. I still feel bad for the characters who have to live in the shadows of the original cast, but Dempsey doesn’t have that problem.
Runner Up: the Cast Of Severance: While some of the other episodes have leaned heavily for one character, this one really brought out moments for everyone. we even saw an old face return we weren’t sure we’d see again. And, no, not John tuturro, who was just in the previous episode. So, a broad hug for this hard working group.
Best Audio Description: Severance- I still have to go with this series. it balances the mystery and science fiction so well with the human elements. It has the best overall track.
Runner Up: Celebrity Bear Hunt- Again, based on my attempt to continue to watch more shows like this, I can tell that there are better described shows, but also much worse. While I fault the show heavily in its introductions for the first episode, it does capture the actions well, when Bear is hiding, or has mud on his face, or when one of the remaining being hunted gets caught. I literally don’t know if I’ll finish this show, because of how Episode 4 is looking. I said day one, if Mel B goes home, I’m outtie. And, Bear basically spent half the episode stalking only her, while she’s aware of his stalking, and there’s another contestant who has basically given up trying to assemble a ladder and is sitting out in the open, but Bear can’t be bothered. Save Scary Spice!
Best Moment Of Audio Description: Severance- There were a lot of little moments. We saw another floor, with people we’ve never met. Mark was having some glitchy moments where he would see his dead wife, and then not. There isn’t one specific moment, but I didn’t feel strongly about any of the other shows to even put them here.
Runner Up: Dexter Saves A life (Dexter: Original Sin)- I guess, if I had to pick a runner up moment, even though the audio description for this show is sometimes not great, it did a nice job with the rescue sequence.
Worst of…- Abbott Elementary (Hulu)- I shit you not. I had to check to see if I had turned it on. I thought I had gaslit myself into thinking I had heard audio description because there is so little in this episode. it actually made me want to go back and count individually how many total words were spoken by the narrator. I’m guessing under 100, for sure, but how far under 100 is the question. Under 50? Maybe. probably. Under 25? I wouldn’t be surprised. I believe with all of my heart, that while sitcoms are one of the harder formats to describe, this one is at the bottom of its own bubble. Compared to even something like ghosts, I would say Ghosts doesn’t have exceptional audio description, but it is far better. And, even ABC’s own Shifting Gears is way better. And they have a laugh track with it. Abbott is the loser of the day.
