TV Shows Watched: The Last Of us: S2E3 (MAX) with audio description, North Of North: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Wandla: S2E1 (Apple TV +) with audio description, American Idol: S23E13 (Hulu) No Audio Description, tracker: S2E15 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Million Dollar Secret: S1E? (Netflix) with audio description, the Bondsman: S1E6 (Amazon) with audio description, the Great North: S5E8 (Hulu) no audio description, yolo: S1E1 and S1E2 (MAX) no audio description, Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (MAX) no audio description, Matlock: S1E? (Paramount Plus) with audio description.Best Episode: The Last Of us- Despite my qualms with certain choices made in the last episode, this one had the reverence required to pay that lost soul the fitting tribute they deserve. it also did what this show needs desperately, which is continue to develop a supporting ensemble for this show. This cannot just be a vehicle for one person. It puts too much on the shoulders of Bella Ramsey to have to carry this franchise with no support from recurring cst members.Luckily, we started to see them get fleshed out, and eventually when Ellie leaves, she’s not alone.
Runner Up: Last week Tonight- John Oliver spent the entire episode, about 95% of the screentime, talking just about the status of HHS under RFK Jr, and it was brilliant. notably, he let the entire comment from RFK Jr play out where he dehumanized everyone with autism, who apparently are now incapable of leading any sort of life. It doesn’t have audio description, but it definitely deserves this spot this week.
Worth Mentioning: The Bondsman, Million Dollar Secret, and wandla- If I rounded out the top 5, it would be with these three. Kevin Bacon’s Bondsman had to overcome Lucky, and of course a demon, while this show is really shaping a cast perfect for season 2. million Dollar Secret went from a Final 6 to a Final 4 in a way that was interesting to see people trying to keep secrets but also find the millionaire. I kinda want Sam to win. Lastly, I surprisingly enjoyed Apple’s wandla, which is a little bit more grown up of an animated series, along the same vein of Chaos Theory and Wolf King, that isn’t aimed at your youngest kids, but the next age range up. This makes it a lot easier for all ages to enjoy.
Best Audio description- the Last of us- No contest victory here. Too many shows didn’t even have audio description.But the team continues to create a strong narrative through the audio description. I am listening to others recap and describe the show, to see what I’m missing, and there are some small details that have emotional resonance, but are hard to point out. Like, in the opening credits there used to be two strains that represented Joel and Ellie, now there’s just one. It certainly has a purpose, but it feels like something we would routinely miss anyway, unless this was an Apple Plus series, since all they ever do is describe images in opening credits, and never list cast or crew.
Runner Up: The Bondsman- Some episodes are gorier than others, but the series still has a pretty consistently great track.
Worth Mentioning: wandla, Million Dollar secret, tracker- not every show even had audio description, but these three would round out the top 5. Wandla has to continue to shape a futuristic sci-fi reality with aliens and technology, tracker does have reliably solid audio description that occasionally has standout moments, and Million Dollar secret is having much better audio description as more people bit the dust.
best Performance: Bella Ramsey (the Last Of us)- Of course. Ramsey has a few beautiful moments as Ellie to remember Joel, especially one that feels very Brokeback Mountain. she also has her usual standoff-ish nature present in her interaction with Gail, and is capable of a lighter conversation later with Deena. But, her screaming at the beginning like she’s waking up from a never ending nightmare is particularly striking.
Runner Up: Che (American Idol)- I haven’t seen the results yet for the Top 10, but considering the revival of Idol has had a hard time getting momentum for wildcards, I’m worried that the British singer is already cut by the time I write this. However, with 14 becoming 12, his rendition of this is A Man’s World was my favorite of the night. A lot of singers made odd choices that were too far outside their wheelhouse as an artist, and some sang the shit out of songs that are too old fashioned for a young audience to care (Shout?), but this overdone song is deathly familiar to anyone who watches singing competition shows, allowed him to do his own thing with it, and didn’t feel that far removed from what he had shown us already. While they clearly want Canaan to win, I’d just like to see che survive.
Worth mentioning: Gabriel Luna (the Last Of us), Sky Marshall (Matlock), Jason Ritter (Matlock)- Luna plays Tommy, who also had to say goodbye to his brother this week on the Last Of us. The other two have been butting heads all season on Matlock, fighting for partner, and when Senior decides to give Olympia the partner spot over his own son, it breaks Ritter. He has a few great moments where he shows that he’s tired of being unable to earn his father’s respect. meanwhile, Marshall has just been giving so much more energy since finding out the truth, and she balanced that with her surprise at landing partner, and also having to manipulate and console her ex-husband at the same time.
Best Moment Of Audio description: Anytime Ellie Pays tribute To Joel (The Last Of us)- this would include Ellie weeping into his jacket, but also leaving coffee beans at his grave.For a zombie series, the moments that had the weight this episode were the quiet ones, and Roy did a nice job with those scenes.
runner Up: Tommy saying Goodbye (The Last Of us)- In such a somber moment, we see a woman gently cleaning Joel’s body, and Tommy comes in. He then takes the cloth, and presumably continues the task, while also vocalizing his feelings. the shot also reminded us the significance of the watch Joel was wearing, and when it stopped telling time, in relation to now, as Tommy tells Joel to say Hi to Sarah. It was a beautifully conceptualized moment realized by the audio description.
Worth Mentioning: The Person Outside My Room (Wandla), What They Find In the Forest (The last Of Us), and The Video Game (Wandla)- I always try to avoid spoilers, so these moments from The Last Of us were visual cues necessary, and well described. Ava sees something specific outside her room, she also plays a video game that mmortifies her considering Season 1, and in the Last Of us, Ellie and Deena find something heartbreaking in the woods.
Worst Of…- Nothing was awful, so I’ll name check all shows with no audio description: American Idol, the Great North, yolo, and Last Week tonight. All four are losers for lack of accessibility.
