The third episode of Alice in Borderland’s second season is a terrific hour of television that should probably have been two terrific half-hours of television.
I reviewed Alice in Borderland Season 2’s third episode for Decider.
“Alice in Borderland” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Three
The Boiled Leather Audio Hour on “1899”!
Ooh look, it’s the new Boiled Leather Audio Hour, in which Stefan Sasse and I discuss 1899, the new series from the makers of Dark! Available here or wherever you get your podcasts!
“Alice in Borderland” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Two
Well, this may be the simplest Alice in Borderland episode of all time. Not the rules of the game that Arisu and company are playing mind you — those are the most convoluted in the history of the series, though you can get the hang of it quickly. (The players do!) The plot, rather, is streamlined and straightforward. There’s a game, they play it, they don’t leave the arena, they don’t even finish the game and move on. The result is an Alice in Borderland that reads as 100% pure and uncut Alice in Borderland. This is what it’s all about.
I reviewed the second episode of Alice in Borderland‘s second season for Decider.
‘Alice in Borderland’ thoughts, Season Two, Episode One
So here’s the pitfall for those of us who want to sound smart while enjoying Alice in Borderland. You know how Squid Game, the similarly themed Korean show about average joes forced to kill or be killed by mystery-shrouded game masters, is sort of about the dehumanizing power of capitalism? Alice in Borderland is pretty much just about the pleasure of watching gorgeous actors run around killing and rescuing each other.
This is not a complaint! That’s cinema, baby!
STC in the Road House 4K UHD Blu Ray Box Set from Vinegar Syndrome
Today I received my contributor’s copy of Vinegar Syndrome’s Road House blu ray box set, and I’m staggered by how good they made my introductory essay in the booklet look:
I think it’s sold out or being held in the vault at the moment, but as soon as it’s back on sale — and as soon as my book Pain Don’t Hurt: Meditations on Road House is back in print — I will let you know!
“The White Lotus” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Seven: “Arrivederci”
Well, you’ve certainly got to give it up for Jennifer Coolidge, that’s for one thing. A lot of Coolidge fandom is that weird performative thing that all actor fandoms seem to do at this point where it’s more like you want this person to be your parent or best friend than a dude who happens to be really good at acting, but let’s put that aside, because she really is good at acting! It’s hard to convincingly play a stupid person without it devolving into a million old jokes, and Coolidge has consistently pulled that off as Tanya. This episode in particular is the ne plus ultra of the role, as Coolidge portrays Tanya’s final realization that she’s surrounded by men who intend to murder her for her money like a cocker spaniel figuring out calculus.
I reviewed the season finale of The White Lotus for Decider.
“The White Lotus” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Six: “Abductions”
Are there dramatic moments that moved me, or comedic moments that made me laugh? Very much so! Bert’s open distress as he connects his failed family reunion with the fact that he’ll never be romantically or maternally loved again. Quentin telling Tanya that doing coke after a prolonged period of abstinence is like “riding a bike.” Jack semi-drunkenly asserting that we live at the best point in history despite all the signs to the contrary, which have been brought up by Portia primarily to burst his bubble rather than to make any kind of real point. Harper and Ethan’s grueling conversation about whether or not their marriage is dead, the tightest and hardest-hitting discussion of relatable human misery in the show’s history, I think. Ethan’s increasingly insufferable stone-faced fury at it all. The revelation that Isabella and Rocco are engaged. The genuine sexual chemistry between Valentina and Mia.
I reviewed this week’s episode of The White Lotus for Decider.
“The White Lotus” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Five: “That’s Amore”
My emotional journey with Season 2 of The White Lotus continues to take unexpected twists and turns. I’ve been entertained, bored, vaguely disdainful, but as of this week’s episode (“That’s Amore”) I’m disconcerted. Like, what if Mike White is right? What if people really are like this — all of them grasping, self-deluded, hypocritical assholes? What if my friends and loved ones are secretly like this. What if I’m secretly like this? How can I ever have a healthy, trusting relationship of any kind ever again? How can society survive???
I reviewed the fifth episode of The White Lotus Season 2 for Decider.
“The White Lotus” thoughts, Season Two, Episode Four: “In the Sandbox”
So it was a mixed bag, this White Lotus ep. In a way, I can’t help but admire White for trying to stuff so many different things inside that bag, and the result may have been the most entertained I’ve been by an episode this season. I just wish the results more consistently matched the ambition.
I reviewed episode four of The White Lotus Season 2 for Decider.
The Boiled Leather Audio Hour on Andor Episode 12!
The new Boiled Leather Audio Hour is up! Stefan Sasse and I discuss the season finale of Andor, available here or wherever you get your podcasts!
And remember, the Boiled Leather Audio Hour is brought to you by Manscaped! Groom your area and save 20% plus get free shipping when you use the code BOILEDLEATHER at manscaped.com!
STC on Road House on 4K UHD Blu Ray
Now it can be told: I’ve contributed an essay to the liner notes for Vinegar Syndrome’s “Vinegar Syndrome Ultra” limited edition 4K UHD Blu Ray, freshly restored from the original 35mm negative and chock full of extras. Like me! Go order it!
The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs of All Time
‘Sesame Street’
PBS, 1969-Present; HBO, 2016-20; HBO Max, 2020-Present
He wasn’t a big yellow bird or a furry blue monster, but Joe Raposo was as integral to the success of the children’s educational institution Sesame Street as any Muppet. In addition to writing classic Sesame songs like “Bein’ Green,” “Sing,” and “C Is for Cookie” — that’s good enough for me — Raposo composed the jaunty, instantly recognizable theme song that helped lodge the show in the public consciousness. With lyrics by Raposo, Jon Stone, and Bruce Hart, “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?” conjures up images of smiling kids running down the sidewalk on a sunny day — headed, in the words of Don Draper, to a place where they know they are loved. —S.T.C.
I contributed over a dozen entries to Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 100 TV Theme Songs of All Time, from Game of Thrones to Cheers to Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Go read and argue!
“Andor” thoughts, Season One, Episode Twelve: “Rix Road”
If anything ties Andor together, it’s this: a conviction that great things are made from small pieces, painstakingly assembled. It was true of the bomb, it’s true of whatever they were building in that prison (a post-credits scene reveals it to be components for the planet-killing weapons system on the Death Star), it’s true of the growing Rebellion, and it’s true of Cassian Andor himself, a lowlife who’s gone from scrambling to survive to fighting for something much larger than himself. It’s amazing to see a Star Wars story this thoughtfully constructed, adding brick to brick to brick until the most impressive story that universe has seen in two decades is right there before our eyes.
I reviewed the season finale of the truly excellent Andor for Decider.
Diego Luna Shot Andor’s Prison Break on His Last Day of Filming
One of the most unusual things about the show is that, especially in the early episodes, Cassian Andor is not particularly charismatic. We’re used to dramas centered on the most magnetic guy in the room.
You probably were in a room with him and never noticed. Cassian had to be that guy because this is a big show that wants to tell the story of people that big shows never cared about before. It’s the only way to be honest about a revolution.Yes, there are leaders, but revolutions are not made by leaders. They’re made by numbers, by conviction, by regular people thinking they can do something extraordinary. This is the story of one of those people that was never celebrated. Oh, this person is going to bring change, this person is different — no, not really. The strength of community, that’s what the show is about.
You cannot fall into the trap of making the charismatic, funny guy who you know from the beginning is going to find a way out. You have to think the opposite. You have to question, Why are we supporting him? I was always saying, “Let’s avoid movie moments as much as we can.”
I interviewed Diego Luna about his incredible Star Wars show Andor for Vulture.
“1899” thoughts, Season One, Episode Eight: “The Key”
Thinking about the show overall, the hamfisted, ill-fitting music cues seem part and parcel of Friese and bo Odar’s decision to abandon the slow and subtle approach that made their first Netflix series Dark so effective and affecting in favor of balls-to-the-wall pacing and storytelling. There are more MiNd-bLoWiNg ReVeLaTiOnS in any given 1899 episode than there were in Dark’s entire first season. While I respect the decision to just go buckwild in theory, in practice, it just didn’t work out.
I reviewed the season finale of 1899 for Decider. It’s a bummer this show isn’t better.
“1899” thoughts, Season One, Episode Seven: “The Storm”
But the stars of this particular episode are, well, the stars of this particular episode. Virtually every actor stranded aboard the Kerberos seems to be going for broke in this one, digging into depths of grief and despair and hope and love only hinted at previously. Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, Jonas Bloquet, Rosalie Craig, Maciej Musiał, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Alexandre Willaume, Isaak Dentler, Fflyn Edwards — just go-for-broke work from all of them, top to bottom.
“1899” thoughts, Season One, Episode Six: “The Pyramid”
But behind the show’s genre elements are, ostensibly, human stories designed to give those elements heft and weight. Nothing we’ve seen thus far feels weightier than what we see Tove survive. What’s more, to the extent 1899 is serious at all about its by-now obvious allegorical resonance with real-world refugee and resource crises, accurately depicting an act of violence as hideous and traumatic rather than stylized and dramatic is necessary to get the point across. The show is treating this as the terrible crime it is, and not allowing the audience to look away.
“1899” thoughts, Season One, Episode Five: “The Calling”
As previously mentioned, I grow less and less convinced that 1899 has big things to say about anything in particular as the show progresses. To the extent that it’s any fun at all, it’s purely down to the sci-fi hijinks and the overall murky tone that accompanies them. It’s binge-y stuff, and who knows? Maybe that’s enough.