We still have a Wii — my son loves it, and refuses to believe they’re not still making new games for it — but even if he didn’t I’d now be tempted to hold on to it in case I could use it as a bargaining chip during the apocalypse.
Honestly my sister had a Wii growing up and it's still my favorite console to this day. Mario kart, guitar hero, just dance, Wii sport. It has so many fun games to play with friends. I could see how it would become a thing of value during an apocalypse. Jane is still insane but I can understand her love of Wii 😂
I seem to be one of the few defenders of this episode of Severance. It's strange to me that so many people disliked it.
I liked the show taking us out of that company town and showing us a totally different (tho similarly bleak) landscape. And we can see how Lumon has destroyed an entire community - which honestly felt like a commentary on the deindustrialization in the rust belt - and was/is completely dependent on child labor. And the biggest reveal of all - they stole Harmony's work and passed it off as their own! I think this has happened to so many brilliant women, especially in STEM fields. Now so many things about her - especially her interactions with Helena - make sense. I think this episode was really important in terms of world-building for the show.
It just feels like so many fans have preconceived notions of what they want this show to be or what they want to see in each episode (like we HAVE to go back to the core 4 characters). Personally, I'm along for the ride - and love to be surprised. I feel like we're getting pretty big reveals in every episode - whether it's that Burt is a villain or the real Gemma is still alive, etc. There's nothing else like this show on TV right now, so I'm just soaking it all up.
I really enjoyed this episode too. I appreciate when shows go off in different directions. If season 2 was just more of the core 4 in the office setting, I would get bored quickly.
God, Better Things is such an underrated gem of a show. I should rewatch again. I have one daughter, who is now 5, and I honestly cannot wait to watch with her. The humanity of those characters. I love them to bits.
On Severance, I'd be really interested on your take on Mark's sister ringing Cobel for help. Why would she want Cobel's help? This is a woman who posed as a nanny and stole a baby (albeit briefly) It really didn't make any sense to me and made me wonder if Devon has undergone a similar procedure. What did you think?
As great as Dan Erickson is, and as remarkable as this show is from a rank newbie writer, his character corner-cutting is troubling, and the producers should have done a much better job at reining it in.
I understand there were protracted course-corrections in production, so maybe his original scripts are even more chess piece-ish and Swiss cheesey and Stiller and company already did tons of patch work to make the characters as real as they are.
This episode of Severance was interminable and insufferable. We get it, you're on location, you like shooting exteriors and glittering eyes. We see how impressed you are by your own camera work, we *get it*. Maybe try giving your lead a character journey for the season? Because he's been in the same place since 2.03 and it's beyond tiresome.
I definitely feel the show is a bit high on its own supply at this point with too many moments of going “what is actually happening here??” and not in a fun way. Lore on lore for lore’s sake. I’m a little bored.
To each his own. I think the show has gone to another level. Yeah, it’s weird and I don’t understand everything - but maybe we’re not supposed to right now. Why watch, if you just want season one all over again?
No one asked for season 1 again? I am asking for competent writing (specifically, emotional character arcs for our leads and forward progress). It's nice that you like it; it's also irrelevant to evaluating the show. It would be great if the excellent acting and directing were matched by the writing. Right now, that is manifestly not the case.
In your opinion. The show is doing things we’ve never seen before and you’re complaining? Also, where were they supposed to shoot this episode, on a green screen? Or somewhere boring so it doesn’t look like they’re showing off? If something is so “insufferable,” then stop watching and go do something you do enjoy.
You know, this is weird. Yes, I'm complaining because I don't think season 2 is very good, specifically the writing. If you enjoy the show, great. But Alan invites folks' opinions, so while you can disagree with others, trying to shut them down, as this seems to, is weird.
Re: greenscreen, no one suggested that. The critique is that the show overwhelmingly cares about visuals over story, which I maintain. If you want to see the difference, The Handmaid's Tale S1 had stunning, iconic visuals that were 100% in service of its character stories and never self-indulgent.
Also, this show isn't doing things we've never seen before? It's basically Dollhouse plus kooky religious cult; even Mark's reintegration story is a flavor of Echo's story from Dollhouse. (Which I don't knock it for, to be clear; there are few new ideas.) And it's shot very well, of course, but the camera work isn't groundbreaking. It's not Fury Road, where they literally invented new technologies to make that movie.
Anyway, twice now you've taken it to a weirdly combative place, so I think we should leave it there. I'm blocking you; have a good one.
100% agree that sometimes The Pitt really overdoes it, that particular line of dialogue stopped that scene dead in its tracks. Also would agree that the format creaks a lot when things that should be happening over days or weeks occur within a few hours, like Javadi making a complete fool out of herself with Mateo in the previous hour and then coming right back for more an hour later. As socially awkward as Javadi is, that was really hard to swallow.
At least this appearance made sense in context. "Did you fill out an incident report?" line actually made laugh, because the incident literally happened like 15 minutes before. Like 24, sometimes the format can't help but call attention to itself.
Reading your MCU list made me realize how many of these I have skipped, and how worn out I've become by their stuff in general. But maybe I'll finally go back and watch a couple of the ones I passed over that you rank highly, like Ms Marvel and She-Hulk.
No real quibbles with your rankings. I think that the first season of Jessica Jones is probably the single best show, though I agree with you the padding really hurt it. If it had been 10 episodes it would have been perfect. But it's one of the few times a superhero property has managed to convey a trauma in a way that is resonant with actual real life experience. There's a depth there that's missing from most everything else Marvel puts out. I'm including WandaVision in that assessment, which I think ends very poorly and in such a way that it undercuts the quality of the rest of the show. I personally would put it behind Loki Season 1 and Daredevil Season 1. But I understand why WandaVision's single season puts it ahead of the other shows, since they certainly did not live up to their beginnings.
"The Recruit" was cancelled (maybe Musk took his job away). S2 was superior to S2 of "The Night Agent" but perhaps airing them so close together hurt "The Recruit".
I’d have Agents (s4-7 is the most consistent of a MCU show) and Ms. Marvel a bit higher with Luke lower. I hope Coulter and Ritter do pop-up in Born Again S2.
I really do wish for Feige to retcon Secret Invasion into “it was just a bad dream” (the twist for Rhody was also horrendous). That show still bugs me more than any other.
Watched the first episode of the new Dark Winds season. I enjoyed it, great seeing Leaphorn and Chee back in action, but that cameo by two of the producers was pretty damn silly.
While I agree with a lot of the criticisms of the Severence episode, I have a different thought - I think a Better Call Saul-esque prequel series focused on Cobel's upbringing, the history of how Lumon built the town and then abandoned it, and ultimately the creation of the severance procedure would be VERY interesting. There's a lot of good material there to mine if done right.
Re: Paradise: We did have a laugh in our house that the answer to "Who killed the president?" was indeed the person we had seen try to kill the president before.
Re: The Pitt -- McKay's ex arriving in the ER this week really felt "during this one shift?!" I was hoping Santos was wrong about Langdon and hoping maybe there was a different culprit she wasn't butting heads with because we hadn't seen much behavior that would indicate he was abusing drugs, but I guess that's why he flew under Robby's radar. Still felt like the first inkling she was right came in this episode when he reacted to being called a junkie.
After my effusive praise for "Paradise" last week, the season finale did not stick the landing. I agree it was the worst episode of the season. Nevertheless, I am excited for season 2.
Also agree on wanting to see clips of the nominated performances at the Oscars!
Man, I had to stop watching Better Things a couple seasons in, mostly BECAUSE of the kids, and especially the oldest (though obviously I don't hold that against Madison lol)
I went into Better Things expecting great things because of how every critic gushes over it, but I stopped watching after a few episodes. I like Pamala Adlan(sp), but the show didn’t speak to me. It was fine.
Generally, I think the negative reactions in your Severance review are pretty similar to how I felt about last weeks. And I largely agree with the assessments - so I can say anything except that this weeks just worked for me much more than Gemma’s episode. I quite enjoyed it. I think I would prefer a season where this stayed a compact episode and Gemma’s story was integrated into an episode with other storylines.
It’s probably some combination of the Salts Neck locale feeling compelling to me (as opposed to Gemma’s torture prison constantly reminding me we weren’t have fun with our buds on the severance floor) and Patricia Arquette as a more compelling actor than Dichen.
On the Pitt - agreed on the leaps needed to accept all this interpersonal development in one shift. It’s a fine trade off for how good the show is overall though. The nursing violence conversation did make me wince for the reasons you wrote about.
I’m very curious how committed they will stay to the format next season.
We still have a Wii — my son loves it, and refuses to believe they’re not still making new games for it — but even if he didn’t I’d now be tempted to hold on to it in case I could use it as a bargaining chip during the apocalypse.
Honestly my sister had a Wii growing up and it's still my favorite console to this day. Mario kart, guitar hero, just dance, Wii sport. It has so many fun games to play with friends. I could see how it would become a thing of value during an apocalypse. Jane is still insane but I can understand her love of Wii 😂
It’s also a favorite of NYT crossword constructors!
I seem to be one of the few defenders of this episode of Severance. It's strange to me that so many people disliked it.
I liked the show taking us out of that company town and showing us a totally different (tho similarly bleak) landscape. And we can see how Lumon has destroyed an entire community - which honestly felt like a commentary on the deindustrialization in the rust belt - and was/is completely dependent on child labor. And the biggest reveal of all - they stole Harmony's work and passed it off as their own! I think this has happened to so many brilliant women, especially in STEM fields. Now so many things about her - especially her interactions with Helena - make sense. I think this episode was really important in terms of world-building for the show.
It just feels like so many fans have preconceived notions of what they want this show to be or what they want to see in each episode (like we HAVE to go back to the core 4 characters). Personally, I'm along for the ride - and love to be surprised. I feel like we're getting pretty big reveals in every episode - whether it's that Burt is a villain or the real Gemma is still alive, etc. There's nothing else like this show on TV right now, so I'm just soaking it all up.
I also liked it. My main reaction was that it was over so quickly. I could have seen a little more of Cobbel but the shorter format was also nice.
I'm here for the small side quest episodes that build the world and give us valuable insights into the back story.
I really enjoyed this episode too. I appreciate when shows go off in different directions. If season 2 was just more of the core 4 in the office setting, I would get bored quickly.
God, Better Things is such an underrated gem of a show. I should rewatch again. I have one daughter, who is now 5, and I honestly cannot wait to watch with her. The humanity of those characters. I love them to bits.
On Severance, I'd be really interested on your take on Mark's sister ringing Cobel for help. Why would she want Cobel's help? This is a woman who posed as a nanny and stole a baby (albeit briefly) It really didn't make any sense to me and made me wonder if Devon has undergone a similar procedure. What did you think?
I wrote about this exact thing in last week's recap: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-recaps/severance-recap-episode-7-season-2-1235278498/
It is INSANE to me that Devon would do this.
As great as Dan Erickson is, and as remarkable as this show is from a rank newbie writer, his character corner-cutting is troubling, and the producers should have done a much better job at reining it in.
I understand there were protracted course-corrections in production, so maybe his original scripts are even more chess piece-ish and Swiss cheesey and Stiller and company already did tons of patch work to make the characters as real as they are.
But it's sure not closed up tight.
I think she was just super desperate, thinking Mark was gonna die, and she knows Harmony knows a lot about all this.
This episode of Severance was interminable and insufferable. We get it, you're on location, you like shooting exteriors and glittering eyes. We see how impressed you are by your own camera work, we *get it*. Maybe try giving your lead a character journey for the season? Because he's been in the same place since 2.03 and it's beyond tiresome.
S2 has been such a disappointment.
I definitely feel the show is a bit high on its own supply at this point with too many moments of going “what is actually happening here??” and not in a fun way. Lore on lore for lore’s sake. I’m a little bored.
High on your own supply is certainly an apt metaphor for this episode...
To each his own. I think the show has gone to another level. Yeah, it’s weird and I don’t understand everything - but maybe we’re not supposed to right now. Why watch, if you just want season one all over again?
No one asked for season 1 again? I am asking for competent writing (specifically, emotional character arcs for our leads and forward progress). It's nice that you like it; it's also irrelevant to evaluating the show. It would be great if the excellent acting and directing were matched by the writing. Right now, that is manifestly not the case.
In your opinion. The show is doing things we’ve never seen before and you’re complaining? Also, where were they supposed to shoot this episode, on a green screen? Or somewhere boring so it doesn’t look like they’re showing off? If something is so “insufferable,” then stop watching and go do something you do enjoy.
You know, this is weird. Yes, I'm complaining because I don't think season 2 is very good, specifically the writing. If you enjoy the show, great. But Alan invites folks' opinions, so while you can disagree with others, trying to shut them down, as this seems to, is weird.
Re: greenscreen, no one suggested that. The critique is that the show overwhelmingly cares about visuals over story, which I maintain. If you want to see the difference, The Handmaid's Tale S1 had stunning, iconic visuals that were 100% in service of its character stories and never self-indulgent.
Also, this show isn't doing things we've never seen before? It's basically Dollhouse plus kooky religious cult; even Mark's reintegration story is a flavor of Echo's story from Dollhouse. (Which I don't knock it for, to be clear; there are few new ideas.) And it's shot very well, of course, but the camera work isn't groundbreaking. It's not Fury Road, where they literally invented new technologies to make that movie.
Anyway, twice now you've taken it to a weirdly combative place, so I think we should leave it there. I'm blocking you; have a good one.
100% agree that sometimes The Pitt really overdoes it, that particular line of dialogue stopped that scene dead in its tracks. Also would agree that the format creaks a lot when things that should be happening over days or weeks occur within a few hours, like Javadi making a complete fool out of herself with Mateo in the previous hour and then coming right back for more an hour later. As socially awkward as Javadi is, that was really hard to swallow.
Robby and Gloria also can't keep having the exact same argument multiple times in the same shift.
At least this appearance made sense in context. "Did you fill out an incident report?" line actually made laugh, because the incident literally happened like 15 minutes before. Like 24, sometimes the format can't help but call attention to itself.
Reading your MCU list made me realize how many of these I have skipped, and how worn out I've become by their stuff in general. But maybe I'll finally go back and watch a couple of the ones I passed over that you rank highly, like Ms Marvel and She-Hulk.
No real quibbles with your rankings. I think that the first season of Jessica Jones is probably the single best show, though I agree with you the padding really hurt it. If it had been 10 episodes it would have been perfect. But it's one of the few times a superhero property has managed to convey a trauma in a way that is resonant with actual real life experience. There's a depth there that's missing from most everything else Marvel puts out. I'm including WandaVision in that assessment, which I think ends very poorly and in such a way that it undercuts the quality of the rest of the show. I personally would put it behind Loki Season 1 and Daredevil Season 1. But I understand why WandaVision's single season puts it ahead of the other shows, since they certainly did not live up to their beginnings.
"The Recruit" was cancelled (maybe Musk took his job away). S2 was superior to S2 of "The Night Agent" but perhaps airing them so close together hurt "The Recruit".
We got the two shows confused twice talking about them in our household.
I mostly agree with your Marvel tv show rankings.
I’d have Agents (s4-7 is the most consistent of a MCU show) and Ms. Marvel a bit higher with Luke lower. I hope Coulter and Ritter do pop-up in Born Again S2.
I really do wish for Feige to retcon Secret Invasion into “it was just a bad dream” (the twist for Rhody was also horrendous). That show still bugs me more than any other.
Watched the first episode of the new Dark Winds season. I enjoyed it, great seeing Leaphorn and Chee back in action, but that cameo by two of the producers was pretty damn silly.
While I agree with a lot of the criticisms of the Severence episode, I have a different thought - I think a Better Call Saul-esque prequel series focused on Cobel's upbringing, the history of how Lumon built the town and then abandoned it, and ultimately the creation of the severance procedure would be VERY interesting. There's a lot of good material there to mine if done right.
Re: Paradise: We did have a laugh in our house that the answer to "Who killed the president?" was indeed the person we had seen try to kill the president before.
Re: The Pitt -- McKay's ex arriving in the ER this week really felt "during this one shift?!" I was hoping Santos was wrong about Langdon and hoping maybe there was a different culprit she wasn't butting heads with because we hadn't seen much behavior that would indicate he was abusing drugs, but I guess that's why he flew under Robby's radar. Still felt like the first inkling she was right came in this episode when he reacted to being called a junkie.
After my effusive praise for "Paradise" last week, the season finale did not stick the landing. I agree it was the worst episode of the season. Nevertheless, I am excited for season 2.
Also agree on wanting to see clips of the nominated performances at the Oscars!
There is more of the four main Severance innies in today's Connections than in the last 2 episodes.
Man, I had to stop watching Better Things a couple seasons in, mostly BECAUSE of the kids, and especially the oldest (though obviously I don't hold that against Madison lol)
I chose not to reproduce largely due to premium cable drama teenage kid characters.
She was great at being terrible, but I gave up after two seasons for the same reason. Both her and the middle daughter were unrelentingly obnoxious.
I went into Better Things expecting great things because of how every critic gushes over it, but I stopped watching after a few episodes. I like Pamala Adlan(sp), but the show didn’t speak to me. It was fine.
Generally, I think the negative reactions in your Severance review are pretty similar to how I felt about last weeks. And I largely agree with the assessments - so I can say anything except that this weeks just worked for me much more than Gemma’s episode. I quite enjoyed it. I think I would prefer a season where this stayed a compact episode and Gemma’s story was integrated into an episode with other storylines.
It’s probably some combination of the Salts Neck locale feeling compelling to me (as opposed to Gemma’s torture prison constantly reminding me we weren’t have fun with our buds on the severance floor) and Patricia Arquette as a more compelling actor than Dichen.
On the Pitt - agreed on the leaps needed to accept all this interpersonal development in one shift. It’s a fine trade off for how good the show is overall though. The nursing violence conversation did make me wince for the reasons you wrote about.
I’m very curious how committed they will stay to the format next season.