As we near the end of the Emmy consideration period, I just finished Franklin (Apple Plus), which was a moderately interesting look at a specific period in history, but featured actors who never felt like they were of the time period. It’s one of the least interesting things Apple has put out, and with the limited content as strong as it is, I wouldn’t nominate even Douglas. I also didn’t enjoy the audio description, which didn’t balance enough in the dubbing, so the dubbing was much louder than the original voices, making conversations between two people hard to follow when only one person is doing both voices. As an example, Shogun only used one narrator, but was balanced enough I could clearly hear the changes in the actors original performances. Here, they are mostly obliterated. Considering the talent involved in the audio description, it’s a rare misfire.
I also wrapped Parasite: the Grey (Netflix), which definitely has room for future seasons. I know Netflix would love to have another Squid Game, and the only way they will get that is by continuing to prop up international shows, which means also giving them audio description. Blind people have social media too, and can influence. for my part, I’ll say Season 1 was nuts, and if you are a fan of horror and science fiction, you’ll love this. If not, stay away. This series is pretty gory. The audio description, the written parts were fine, but the actual quality of the recording wasn’t great. I’m not shouting on the rooftops, because again, I just want to be able to watch so much of the content Netflix has passively ignored by not adding accessibility for blind English speaking audiences.
Under The Bridge (Hulu) really had me thinking a certain character was also going to bite the dust in episode six, but luckily did not. Though, Episode 6 finally has some arrests. i think there are two more episodes left, and then this one is done, and it feels like we are almost there. Rebecca’s past was explored a lot, but I’ve mostly felt her character was pointless this whole time, so I didn’t need it. maybe she’ll be relevant in the final two episodes.
The Sympathizer (MAX) just ended for those who were up to date, but I just finished Episode 6. I am literally finishing this show for the fleeting moments I get of Robert Downey Jr. I think this show has tone shifts that make it hard to get through, and I’m not as invested in the Captain as I should be. Or, really, the Vietnamese people. I have a feeling Emmy voters will go nuts for this.
them (Amazon) continued to be really creepy and weird. Oddly, even though this episode had some uncomfortable moments, I keep waiting for some of the boundary pushing stuff they did in the first season. This might have been one of the more tame episodes, at Episode 4.
