The Mighty Nein’s comparatively slower pace means that our core characters have time to breathe on their own and form satisfying, lived-in one-on-one relationships before getting tossed into an ensemble.
Unfortunately, its sophomore season squanders its A-list comedic cast—which also features the likes of Allison Janney and Leslie Bibb—once again, managing to somehow be both overstuffed and painfully overlong.
Their [Matty and Olympia's] strained relationship is the heart of Matlock’s Season 2 premiere, which debuted Sunday night, as both have second thoughts about jeopardizing their friendship to protect their own personal agendas. It’s an episode of theatrics even more so than usual, both on and off the clock.
Boots—which was inspired by gay veteran Greg Cope White’s 2016 memoir The Pink Marine—struggles to live up to the “comedy” side of its dramedy title, creating a milquetoast coming-of-age story whose ultimate veneration of military life comes off queasy in 2025.
Hunnam portrays the character with a lurching awkwardness and a tinny, Kermit-esque voice—which the actor says was inspired by a recording of the real-life Gein—which nonetheless never manages to sound authentic. .... At a certain point, Monster’s grotesqueness becomes almost laughably predictable—imagine the most questionably salacious thing that could happen next in any given scene and it will inevitably come true, the camera leering in close-up to capture every perverse detail.
There are interesting lingering threads in Wayward to parse about collectivism versus individualism, and how pursuits of the perfect nuclear, neurotypical family can wreak intergenerational havoc, regardless of ideology or identity. The trouble is, fascinating ideas aren’t enough to prop up a several-hour TV series without a clear sense of self.
For all the creative team’s personal intentions, The Twisted Tale’s sluggish pace, frustratingly narrow focus, and bizarre tonal shifts hold it back from becoming a definitive version of this tale.
For all its inherent ickiness, Are You My First? does offer a fascinating snapshot of the well-documented ideological gulf springing up between Gen Z men and women. .... Structurally, the biggest hurdle facing Are You My First? is its general lack of in-show stakes. Contestants vote off their peers who don’t seem to be forming genuine connections, but outside of some suggestive challenges, they don’t have an incentive like a cash prize to keep them there.
Maybe the final five episodes will flesh that out amid its conspiratorial rabbit hole, but the initial run certainly doesn’t. What’s left is a jumbled cross between a legal drama, a soap, and a true crime series that ultimately doesn’t manage to say much at all.
