TV News: Apple Plus inked a deal with Jason Sudekis to return for a 4th season of Ted lasso. Previously, the streamer had picked up cast options on at least three of the series regulars, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Jeremy Swift, so while nothing else is confirmed, the show should at least feature those four in some capacity. Also, Netflix has opted not to do a third season of The Recruit, which isn’t terribly surprising considering they reduced the episode order for the second season. Somehow, that worked out for The Diplomat, but typically a reduction of episodes leads to cancellation.
TV Shows Watched: Severance: S2E9 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Cobra Kai: S6E15 (Netflix) with audio description, Will Trent: S3E9 (Hulu) with audio description, Going Dutch: S1E8 (Hulu) no audio description, The Great North: S5E4 (Hulu) no audio description, The rookie: S7E9 (Hulu) with audio description, and Running Point: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description
Best Episode: Severance- I really wanted to put Cobra Kai here, but Severance actually rebounded from last week, and put quite a lot into its penultimate episode of the season. Enemies started to work together, characters might be leaving the show for good, and Milcheck told his boss to do something shocking, but he used those really big words to tell him.
runner Up: Cobra Kai- the Series Finale. My heart is so with this. I’m gonna miss this one for sure. I know it isn’t an awards player, and all the “kids” are in their mid-20’s by now, but I still love this, and I’m so happy we got this. For all the revivals and reboots we get, this was an excellent use of a franchise extension. Will William Zapka get any offers after this? I hope so.
Best Audio description: Cobra Kai- I am going to give it the edge for audio description though. Cobra Kai had a lot of punching and kicking, but also some flashbacks, and plenty of emotionally rewarding scenes that tied up things for our series regulars. We got really specific, but important to the series, descriptions on a necklace worn by Sam, a gift given by Miguel, a license plate on a car driven by Dimitri, and a brilliant call back to a scene from the original film where Mr Miyagi caught a fly with chopsticks.
Runner Up: Severance- the show seems headed for a very weird finale, and this episode didn’t quite have as much science fiction in it, but it did have a rather intense scene between irv and an unsuspecting guest in his home, Mrs. Cobell interacting with a hostile Mark, but later sneaking him into a secret facility, and a few emotional goodbyes.
Best Performance: John Tuturro and Christopher Walken (Severance)- It’s hard not to see these two in a scene together and realize you are watching two of the best actors alive. What makes Walken great is that while he has a playfulness about him, he’s also oddly menacing without much effort, at the drop of a hat. He just lands his scenes perfectly every time. Tuturro has been delivering a very quiet performance as the outtie version of Irv, very different from his innie. Their scene together reminded me so much of the final scene in lost In Translation between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson that required little dialogue, and often left audiences wondering what Murray whispered to her inaudibly for years. I struggled with who to pick from Severance, and I landed on these two legends.
runner Up: Nekia Cox (The Rookie)- predictably, the episode gave her a lot to work with. Yes, I could have picked William Zapka, but his best work is actually in episode 14. Cox, who plays Detective Harper, came into this episode handed an opportunity to really go for it. Luckily, the writers also remembered who they were working with, and kept every reaction true to her character, so she never went too big, or gave a huge dramatic teary speech. She was clearly worried, frustrated, and upset, and every interaction she had gave flavor of a compromised Harper, but one who also is an excellent cop who knows the rules. Every time another character thought they were about to have a difficult conversation with her, she seemed ready and anticipated the need to go there. Finally, when the day is over, and she knows who shot James, and the result of his surgery, she’s able to finally cry it out in a hug from Nolan. I’ve picked Cox out before, for this season, because as the writing has started to decline, acting becomes even more important. She delivers.
Best Moment Of Audio description: The Fight (Cobra Kai)- Johnny’s fight against wolf didn’t take the whole episode, but it had to appear like two giants were facing off with each other.
Runner Up: The Fly (Cobra Kai)- This show is taking both mentions home today. The end, which features Daniel and Johnny having lunch, and a fly, triggers a memory of Mr Miyagi’s comment on catching a fly with chopsticks. this scene doesn’t end how you might think.
Worst Of…- there was a moment where someone collapsed and needed medical attention in The rookie. the audio description didn’t acknowledge it, and the only reason you know is because his friend makes a joke that alludes to it. Later, there’s a scene with the person who collapsed post-doctoral treatment, but there was room to mention the collapse. So even though two shows lacked AD, I’m pegging the Rookie for this honor.
