A near perfect day of TV show watching. If only The Offer could nail those impressions.
1) Girls5Eva (Peacock)
English Audio description Available?: Yes
The Girls take on different challenges, but what gets served up most is now that Summer is single again, her parents are rolling back into town to protect her purity. But, when she learns her parents haven’t always been so… pure, will she keep her pledge?
Episode Grade: A
2) Undone (Amazon)
English Audio Description Available?: Yes
I really enjoyed Season 1, and I just assumed I’d never see it again. Then Amazon stuck with this weird show for a second go around. In the season 2 premiere, everything they were working toward in Season 1 seems to have paid off, but now that dad is back, there seems to be a problem with mom, and maybe the sister has a secret as well? Probably one of the better shows you’re not watching.
Episode Grade: A
3) Shining Girls (Apple Plus)
English Audio Description Available?: Yes
The first episode of this got me hooked immediately. This Elizabeth Moss thing (I don’t know if it’s a series or a limited) seems to be centered around a serial kidnapper/murderer/rapist, though the details come in bits and pieces. What this series excels at is having an unreliable narrator, who is also really supposed to be reliable so we can catch this guy. But several moments in the episode let us know she’s either living in parallel universes, or something is horribly wrong. How do you catch a killer when the only person who knows who he is can’t even find her own apartment? I’m instantly hooked.
Episode Grade: A
4) Night Sky (Amazon)
English Audio Description Available?: Yes
Kudos to Amazon for making some truly bonkers shows. On the surface, you have a really mundane series about an aging couple living together and taking care of one another. JK Simmons and Sissy Spacek are perfect together. They both seem born for these roles. But underneath all this, quite literally, is some door that teleports them to a place where they can gaze upon another planet that seems located under their shed. I don’t understand the logistics either, but it is just the first episode. I’ll wait to see how this all came to be as the series plays out. With this and Outer Range, Amazon is making some delightfully inspired shows, and I’m so on board.
Episode Grade: A
5) The Offer (Paramount Plus)
English Audio Description Available?: Yes
Look, I’d be more on board with this show if they bothered to hire actors who could nail these impressions. Moreover, they apparently don’t even look like the people who they are playing. My mom is constantly mentioning people who don’t look anything like the people they are playing. This time around, she took personal offense to the Ali McGraw actress. I will say, whoever is doing the Robert Evans voice (I believe Matthew Goode), has nailed that 100%. As a big fan of The kid Stays in The picture (and even the short lived animated series Kid notorious), that is the voice of Robert Evans. Everyone else? Garbage. When Marlon Brando’s actor had to stand up and make a speech not only trying to be Brando, but be Brando doing The Godfather, that was painful. I know the series hasn’t been well received, and it all comes down to casting, which is even more hilarious when you think about how much time of The offer itself is spent on making sure the casting is right. Ironic, isn’t it?
Episode Grade: B+
