TV Shows Watched: Squid Game: S2E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Creature Commandoes: S1E5 (MAX) with audio description, What If: S3E5 (Disney Plus) with audio description, 911: S8E2 (Hulu) with audio description, Pop Culture Jeopardy: S1E2 (Amazon) with audio description, and The Lincoln Lawyer: S3E9 (Netflix) with audio description
Movies Watched: Skincare (Apple Store) with audio description, The End (screener) no audio description, Evil Does Not Exist (screener) no audio description, Exhibiting Forgiveness (screener) no audio description
Best Episode: Squid Game- Hands down. I was wondering how they would be able to pull off a Season2, since the first seemed like such a lightning in a bottle thing, but the first episode is fully out in the real world, with no Squid Game (yet?), and was compelling. we saw the survivors from Season 1 both trying to figure out what the hell, and the beginnings of the next Squid Game. Also, that ending. With a bang!
Runner Up: The Lincoln Lawyer- Mickey is close to finishing this case, and getting to the bottom of all of it.
Best Performance- The Cast Of Squid Game- the problem with this show, for me, is that in order for us to have accessibility, we have dubbing. So, I can’t actually appreciate the original actors. At least with shows that the audio description handles the voices, you can hear the original dialog underneath a little, giving you the original actors intent. However, the way this episode was written, there’s no way the best performance wasn’t from this episode. Which character is the question? But, someone. Definitely.
Runner Up: Angela Bassett (911)- Look. the first two episodes of Season 8 are the kind of things that make you go, why is Angela Bassett here? There was a “beenado” which translated into a mid-air plane collision, where the plane Bassett was flying in was severely compromised. Still, despite this absurdist scenario, she tackled it with the same Oscar Nominee bravado like a fucking professional. She deserves a raise. These episodes made no sense, but she made sense of it, and still found a way to make Athena one of the most underrated performances on TV right now.
Best Audio Description: Squid Game- Shoutout to Liz Gutman for being bestowed Netflix’s little gem. This premiere was really well written, from watching some of the games be played outside of the facility, to those intense facial expressions and reactions during both rock paper scissors, and later Russian roulette. The dubbing gives us someone else’s voice, but Gutman’s writing reflects the original performer, giving us exactly what we need in terms of context.
Runner up: What If- I’d be remiss if I ignored the complexities of the action and science fiction elements here.
Best Moment Of Audio Description: Squid Game- The aforementioned Rock paper Scissors sequence. Definitely.
Runner Up: What If- The various illusions, and Ironheart (or as you may know her, RiRi) navigating the ship around what was real and what wasn’t.
Worst Episode/Movie: Evil Does Not Exist had no audio description, and is in Japanese. It is also from the director of Drive My Car, so putting it here is probably unfair, but then again, I’m not the one who chose to not put audio description on this title.
Worst Performance: The Writers Of 911- I mean. Come on. Like, do you consult anyone on what would happen? In real life, we’ve seen what happens to these small planes when a part of them creates a hole and stuff gets sucked out. You’re telling me Athena is perfectly fine? She’s not even worried about oxygen. She just crawls into that cockpit. Great audio description, this means the actual writers of the show, not the audio description.
Worst Audio Description- Again, Evil Does Not Exist- Three things without audio description. one wasn’t in English.
