Essays on TV and film — exploring stories, characters, and the choices behind them.
The premise of Remarkably Bright Creatures sounds like a pitch that got through on charm: an elderly widow bonds with a giant Pacific octopus and a wayward young man. On paper, the octopus is the hook. On screen, you forget about the octopus for long stretches, and that turns out to be both the … Read more
he most disciplined thing The Four Seasons Season 2 does is refuse to let Nick haunt it. Steve Carell’s character was, in the first season, the kind of person a group of friends organizes itself around without quite realizing it — the one whose choices set the terms, whose appetites defined the social weather. … Read more
The teaser dropped today, and I’ve already watched it twice. Netflix released the first footage of Notes from the Last Row this morning, and it does exactly what a good teaser should do — it gives you just enough to understand what this show is going to be, and then it stops. What I … Read more
Sam Cooper helps the captive creature Mother die because he recognizes what keeping her alive has cost her. In the Netflix series The Boroughs, a widower who wants more time with his wife ends up defending another being’s wish for her time to end. His loss gives him a reason to understand that wish, even … Read more
There’s a moment near the end of The WONDERfools where everyone is gathered for Eun Chae-ni’s memorial. She teleported away with a blimp full of dangerous chemicals to save the city, and no one has seen her since. The people who love her have accepted that she’s gone. And then she walks in. I’ve … Read more