Which one of these things is not like the other? Welp, I watched “Welcome to Sweden” but it’s not really enough of a show to review on its own, so I thought I’d lump it in here…
Masters of Sex…This Showtime series really struggled in its sophomore season. The first season wasn’t exactly great (it never quite hit the mark as a Mad Men-esque exploration of repression and freedom but with more graphic sex), but it sure was better than this. Main problems: that Bill Masters (an especially pensive Michael Sheen) is such a tedious and unlikable character, and I’m beginning to think he always will be. We know that he’s repressed and struggling with emotional potency, but every time he has even a tiny breakthrough it’s followed by five more episodes of him being a total dick. Plus, the aimless but scattershot plotting saw too many short-lived location changes, but not enough real change. Grade for Season Two: C-
Ray Donovan…Masters of Sex may be a technically “better” show but Ray Donovan is more fun…sometimes. This series also struggled mightily in its second season because it never really moved beyond the first. Even in the second season finale, they were still busy tying up loose ends from season one. Biggest problem: Like Masters of Sex, Ray Donovan suffers from a largely-uninteresting title character, but what’s worse is that Donovan actually has a great supporting character in Ray’s father Mickey Donovan (a rascally Jon Voight, clearly ecstatic to be given such a juicy role). The series biggest problem this year—-aside from a lack of real commitment to new plots—-was saddling Mickey with an ankle bracelet that kept him from really getting out there and mixing things up, plus ostracizing him from most of the main plot-lines this year. Oh, and the rest of Ray’s family? Dreary brothers, kids that barely register, a wife that feels like a pencil sketch of a character, etc. yeah, all of them can go except for his black half-brother Daryl but Ray refuses to speak to him. Grade for Season Two: C
Welcome to Sweden…The story of a regular guy who loves NYC but hates the Scandinavian-infused land he relocates to? Oh yeah, this show was less a comedy and more a docudrama. Grade for First Season: B