“Schmigadoon”…I loved the first season of what turned out to be one of the best TV series Apple+ had ever produced (no small thing on a platform rapidly becoming known for its high-quality), but was skeptical if it really needed a second season. It turns out that it probably didn’t, but the second season is pretty fun (if not quite as insightful) anyway–aside from occasionally repetitive tropes (Titus Burgess’s narrator is better in small doses) and a saggy middle episode or two. The second season may be guilty of shifting the focus a little bit too much away from our standout central couple (the effortlessly appealing Keegan Michael-Key and Cecily Strong), but you can hardly blame it when the supporting cast features joyfully nasty turns from Alan Cumming (as a hilariously murderous butcher based on Sweenie Todd) and Kristen Chenoweth, having fun playing against type. Aaron Tveit and Jane Krakowski also have enjoyably larger roles this season. Grade for season two: B+
“Lucky Hank”…This is a show you can watch all season and not be entirely certain how you feel about it. Like its ambivalent main character, you might be unsure for the duration, with only occasional moments of clarity, but “Hank” is probably best enjoyed because it features a lead so different from the rest of TV’s main characters (all strivers in different ways, either to save the world or secure the deal or–in the case of “Yellowstone,” its spinoffs, or even “The Diplomat”–fighting to merely maintain the status quo). Hank the character isn’t sure if he even enjoys his life, and seems various shades of hesitant towards his colleagues (English professors at a university Hank gleefully admits is “mediocre” while dressing down a rich student), his chair position, his wife’s desire to move to NYC, and the reemergence of his horrible father, a big shot in academia who Hank has barely seen since his father’s ice-cold reaction to a teenaged-Hank’s suicide attempt. “Hank” the show’s pleasures are slooooow, but eventually pack an emotional wallop, like his initial reengagement with his father–who is suffering dementia and doesn’t remember him–which is so devastating and relatable, it’s easily one of the best scenes of TV this year. Grade: A-
“The Diplomat”…Like more than a few Netflix shows, this one is horrifically overrated, and thinks it’s much more clever than it actually is. For starters, it’s another stale TV riff on the Clinton marriage that we have seen too many times to even remember (“House of Cards,” “The Good Wife,” “Madame Secretary,” “Political Animals”), and so you might feel more than a little exhausted during the many, many scenes of Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell bickering their way through backstage diplomacy (although it’s nice to see Sewell not playing a straight villain for once).
Another tired trope is the “uber competent” character that is actually incompetent, meaning too many shows revolve around “an exceptional professional” that the series refuses to acknowledge actually isn’t very good at their job, but they keep telling us they’re brilliant anyway–free of actually showing us they are (Beth in “Yellowstone,” Mike in “Mayor of Kingstown,” the Byrds on “Ozark,” even Perry Mason receives a lot of help from everyone around him). We are told over and over about what a skilled diplomat Keri Russell’s title character is, but she enters too many scenes with the social skills of a wolverine. You might think charm, tact, subtlety, or even being able to pretend you care what the other person is saying would be prerequisites to being a great diplomat, but Russell often seems more concerned with being paranoid towards her estranged husband or pro-actively aggravating every British character she’s supposed to be negotiating with. Also, there’s a truly awful last minute twist that turns the central plot into a “false flag” operation, and that feels particularly clueless given how eager real-life Russian propaganda is to spread that narrative. Grade: C-
“Rabbit Hole”…A show I wanted to like more than I wound up liking. Several great elements are certainly there: a positive portrayal of a black/white couple on television, Meta Golding’s romantic and soulful charisma, occasionally satisfying con-artist twists, and the always welcome Charles Dance, intimidatingly crisp as ever. But the narrative gets confused around the mid-point, and some of the final episodes felt unnecessarily murky for what is really just a straightforward “Data mining will kill us all” conspiracy plot. However, I believe a better season two mystery, and tighter scripts would easily propel this show to its rightful place as a very good, B-movie style paranoid thriller. Of course, I kind-of doubt there will be a season two… Grade: B- (mostly because of the promising elements possibly being explored better in a more focused season two, and also not feeling a desire to beat up on a show that received too little love to start with)