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Reviews
Cobra Kai: No Mercy (2019)
A sad and disappointing finale
Season two of Cobra Kai ends with every character we care about in a state of despair, while the show's most toxic characters are victorious. No-one is redeemed.
This episode has left me feeling cheap and nasty. My emotional investment in the show and its characters has been betrayed. If this is how the show wants me to feel, then I am no longer interested in finding out what happens next.
The Letdown (2017)
Enjoyable and very relatable
After two episodes, I have warmed to the premise of this show. It offers an amusing and fairly convincing glimpse into the experiences of childbirth and early-parenting, and it seems to hit its targets more often than it misses.
Audrey is the new mother at the center of the story. Much is made of her feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, especially when surrounded by mothers for whom it seems to come all too easily. The first episode rolled out an admittedly predictable roster of clichéd mother-types to stand as Audrey's peers - the ambitious career-mother, the perfect angel-mother, the airhead hippy-mother - but to its credit, the show seems willing to push beyond these thin characterizations, allowing us to see the insecurities that prompt mothers to produce confident and overachieving facades. As Audrey learns this, she herself emerges as more capable and self-assured. It is a positive portrayal of motherhood and parenthood, and I hope that The Letdown continues to pursue this message through its run.
I will also watch in hope that the show does not eventually succumb to lazy stereotypes with some of its characters. So far, only brief glimpses have been offered of a young Asian mother and a non-gender binary parent (who prompts a not-very-tolerant eye-roll from other characters). As the show develops, it may give sharper focus to these characters - it would be a shame if they faded into the background.
Of course, a show like this is compulsory viewing for anyone who is recently a parent, but I think its message remains true for anyone, as it is one of those rare programs that succeeds in making our failings and frailties sharply entertaining. I will be watching with interest to see where it goes from here.
Get Krack!n (2017)
A Shrill and Joyless Polemic
Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan clawed their way to national attention largely through the unprecedented word-of-mouth success of their web- based The Katering Show. If this follow-up project is any indication, their ultimate goal in this enterprise was to eventually squander that goodwill through an ill-conceived and unpleasant "satire" of media values.
Even accounting for difficulty in adapting to a half-hour format, the hit-and-miss results of Get Krack!n might be considered charming if the duo hadn't decided to adopt an incessantly preaching tone throughout. In the place of disarming humour, each episode is dominated sour judgments of predictable PC targets, often delivered sneeringly directly to camera. The overall effect is nasty and unredeeming.
Big Mouth (2017)
Just because a show starts out strong ...
Attracted by the great talent behind this show, I watched the first episode with some adjusted expectations - after initial reservations, I warmed to the premise. The emphasis on sexuality is appropriate, and might even be considered educational (I would let my kids watch).
Up until episode five, all seemed to be going good. Then it veered into PC preaching (just because a girl wears sexy clothes...), and cliché plots (a husband who doesn't see his wife as sexy anymore, etc.) The early episodes exercised fluidity and produced some genuinely original story lines; episodes 5 & 6 episodes seem to fall back on a dogmatic view of gender roles.
I think Kroll, Mulaney, and pretty much everyone else involved are great; however, when it comes to streamed television, even the slightest dip in quality control can sink a show. The show may regain its wheels in time, but I am reluctant to find out.