How to get away with murder – S02xEp01 – It’s Time to Move On

Let’s touch on the case first because it wasn’t a one and done deal like we’ve been used to. Caleb and Catherine are adopted siblings accused of murdering their wealthy parents. After getting their lawyer to mess up in court as only Annalise and company could mastermind, the siblings finally hired Annalise as their lawyer.

Anyway, there was a little twist, as the siblings’ aunt, who placed them at the scene of the crime, had her throat slashed at episode’s end. Conveniently it looks like Caleb was out for a jog around the time of auntie’s murder, but I’m thinking it will be awhile before we get to the bottom of that murder.

One murder we did get to the bottom of was poor Rebecca Sutter’s. Annalise and Frank went back and forth over the killer’s identity but it suddenly became clear to Annalise who was behind it, and once we saw how the crime went down, it made sense. Crazy, crazy Bonnie. Many believed she was the one behind Lila’s death, as she was OBSESSED with Sam and all, so it wasn’t wholly surprising that she was psychotic enough to suffocate Rebecca.

Annalise, largely due to Viola Davis’s Emmy award-winning performance, has consistently been one of the best parts of the show. And yet, early on, we know so little about her—about her motivations, her desires, her emotions. Any time the show does uncover any of those psychological underpinnings of the character, it often leads to some of the best moments on the show. The vulnerability of the scene where she removes her wig and makeup last season certainly stands out. Annalise is often a larger-than-life character. Her students certainly view her as a god-like figure with all-knowing power. And sometimes she’s so good at her job that she does indeed have a superhero quality to her.

Connor is showing maturity, and he wants to be with Oliver in a committed relationship. He knows the risks involved since Oliver is HIV positive, and is taking precautions. Oliver is the one with doubts, not understanding why Connor wants to put himself at risk to be with him. Connor prevails and ends up moving in. He is there for the long haul.

Annalise’s monologue is interrupted by the arrival of Eve. But their past tension isn’t case-related, it’s more about the fact that they were law-school lovers (!!!) — and that Annalise left Eve for Sam. Eve returns to Annalise’s orbit because hers is the defense-attorney number Annalise gave to Nate.

Grey’s Anatomy – S12xEp01 – Sledgehammer

Now that Derek’s gone, I enjoy Meredith more as a person who takes in strays and finds herself teaching an anatomy class. She’s no longer living in someone else’s shadow, and she’s being given an opportunity to shine. But it isn’t just her. There’s a more positive energy surrounding everyone. There are moments that make us laugh. And yes, there are some tears – but they are happy tears.

Because in addition to some light drama surrounding the doctors, there’s an inspiring story about love and acceptance that everyone needs to pay attention to. Subjects like bullying and homophobia.

The outcome for the two girls who nearly died when they stepped in front of a train is that these two young girls are accepted and supported by their fathers, just as they should be. And the point isn’t to focus on the surgeries and the doctors’ egos as much as it is to show how they relate to the patients.

Maggie punches someone in the face, and Arizona calls for a high-five. When Arizona has trouble finding a roommate, Stephanie finally explains why.

Stephanie: You’re one of the Seattle Grace five.
Arizona: I survived a plane crash. A big deal.
Stephanie: And a car crash. And a shooting. You might be immortal.

Grey’s Anatomy needs a new chief and while fans are reluctant to take on another new character in Tracy McConnell, they should be ready to accept that change is inevitable. Bailey’s confidence is shaken to the core but she proves she is always willing to go above and beyond the call of duty because she trusts the nuts and bolts of the hospital that keeps her there.

Considering the ultimatum that Jackson gave April before she shipped out, he wasn’t exactly hanging “Welcome Home” signs in anticipation of her return. But that didn’t stop everyone else from asking about the return party he wasn’t throwing her. Finally, as the hour drew to a close, April discovered Jackson crashing in an on-call room and told him she really wanted them to talk, stat. Clearly, she hadn’t given up on their marriage, right?

So what matters this season? Reinvention, remembrance, and revolution. Callie’s identity, Alex and Jo discovering each other, Meredith trying to connect with her sisters, Arizona and Andrew proving everyone wrong, and finally, Bailey showing that sometimes sticking to your roots is the best way to reinvent yourself.

Narcos – S01xEp03 –

Did Pablo Escobar mean it? Was he really “Un Robin Hood Paisa,” a businessman whose core mission was charity and the redistribution of wealth to the poor?

While the third episode of “Narcos” doesn’t provide any hard answers regarding the sincerity of Escobar’s Robin Hood image, it does lean toward the affirmative. Talking politics with Carlos Lehder, the neo-Nazi in charge of air shipments from Colombia to Miami, Escobar asks him straight up, “Do you believe me or what?” There’s some irony in Escobar seeking affirmation from such a guy, but then, his obsession with legitimacy is nearly as consuming as his quest for power. In his very first scene in the first episode of “Narcos,” Escobar announces that he’s going to be president of Colombia one day and we can see that it’s mere hubris on his part, but a calculated plan to win the support of the masses, just as any other politician would. And unlike his opponents, money has given him the power to back up his political promises with tangible results.

There’s justice and decency in Lara’s actions, but the idea that Escobar doesn’t belong in Congress isn’t wholly related to his illicit business ventures. Escobar wants to represent the politically disenfranchised, but there’s a reason they’re disenfranchised and his violation of the dress code starts to account for it. Government is run by and for the elite class, and Escobar’s power plays are not enough to give him admittance to the club. His form of governance, for good or for ill, will have to remain in the shadows.

Masters of Sex – S03xEp10 – Lack of Protocol

William Masters asks Virginia Johnson to partake in some experiments with him again.

“You are attempting to conduct an experiment with an infinite number of variables and without any controls. It’s chaos, Bill!” In articulating her argument during what I think was her 37,685th fight with Bill about the surrogate study this season, Gini may have described this season of Masters of Sex better than I ever could. At this point, I’m no longer angry about the messy state of things. I’m just disappointed.

Then there’s Gini, who’s trapped in a shame spiral after she learns (from Dan) that Tessa is aware of her affair with Bill. But we’ve seen Gini live this story out already, last season, when Lillian learned about Bill and Gini’s special “research process.” I can’t see the point in making her (or the show’s viewers!) live it out again, especially when it’s spelled out so doggedly and unimaginatively in places — at one point, Gini has to hastily close a hotel nightstand drawer because even the Bible is judging her. And on top of that, Gini’s blind shock over Tessa knowing the truth is so confusing. Gini’s a smart woman who knows she has a smart daughter, and so while I’m sure she was compartmentalizing her work life and home behavior, it doesn’t make sense for her to act so completely gobsmacked after hearing that Tessa knows. I still don’t know what to make of the version of Gini we’re getting this season — she feels so passive compared to the woman willing to do whatever it took to work with Bill way back in season one. Crying on Dan’s hotel-room bed, she says, “It’s not like I decided my life should be this. It’s not like I chose,” and that doesn’t sound right coming from Gini. I can see her being unhappy with her choices, but in the past, she’s always owned them. Also, while I’ve gone back and forth about Dan’s relationship with Gini, there’s something off-puttingly paternalistic about his interactions with her, but at least he doesn’t say “the smell of sex” a single time throughout the episode, which is progress.

NARCOS – S01xEp02 – Death to Kidnappers

This episode is less laden with historical background and the narration feels a little less monotonous than it did in the pilot.

The episode opens with narrator and DEA agent Steve Murphy and his wife on a plane, passing over the Bahamas. Although the couple is just flying over on their way to Colombia, Murphy explains to viewers that one of Pablo Escobar’s intercontinental drug runners, Carlos Lehder purchased a Bahamian Island as a refueling point for his drug planes.

The narcos aren’t just intent on putting coke in everything; they’re also intent on figuring out ways to launder their profits. They start fake emerald mines and taxi companies, but eventually, they just bury the money. Escobar puts a cool million in his mom’s couch.

Deep in the Amazonian jungle, members of communist guerilla group M-19 devise a plan to kidnap college student Marta Ochoa, sister to the narco trafficking Ochoa brothers. The kidnapping isn’t just a plot twist; it’s historical fact. As the The New York Times wrote in 1988, M-19 was a real-life group of revolutionaries that kidnapped Ochoa in 1981.

With the introductory phase over, it’s time to come to terms with the violence on the show. “Narcos” has been billed as Netflix’s answer to “Breaking Bad,” but the scale of Escobar’s operation — and that of the violence used to protect it — is far beyond Walter White’s capabilities. Mr. Padilha and the writers are not holding anything back here. And it’s going to get worse.

Some great details tucked into the episode: The odd problem of having too much cash to launder, which leads to an accountant nicknamed “Blackbeard” and Escobar’s own mother having a million tucked into her coach; the cartel’s deployment of drug-sniffing dogs to make sure drug-sniffing dogs don’t detect their product; and the subtler use of liquefied cocaine to increase the addictive qualities of other products.

NARCOS S01xEp01 “Descenso”

They finally made a TV Show about the story of Pablo Escobar, the most notorious drug king in history? And there’s so much to tell: about the rise of Colombia (and specifically Escobar’ cartel) as a chief exporter of narcotics, about police corruption and political influence, about cocaine culture in Miami and around the United States, and about the drug war that continues to metastasize across the Mexican border and beyond.

Despite a disclaimer at the beginning of every episode about how names and events having been changed for the purpose of dramatizing the story, Narcos is very interested in presenting facts and details. Its goal, then, is seemingly to make those details seem as authentic and understandable to its audience as possible. In order to achieve that objective, the series, relies extensively on an inescapable voiceover that bogs the first hour down in so much exposition, the series premiere feels less like the start of a story and more like the preamble of a very long lesson.

It all starts with a Chilean drug chemist Cockroach brings his product to Colombian smuggler Pablo Escobar. DEA agent Steve Murphy joins the war on drugs in Bogota.

So The bulk of the first episode is devoted to the creation of an industry, starting in Chile, just before Gen. Augusto Pinochet rose to power with American support. Chile had the raw materials and the unmonitored coastline to manufacture and distribute this new drug, cocaine, to ports in the United States and beyond, but Pinochet’s ascendance put an abrupt and characteristically bloody end to it. That leaves one survivor, aptly nicknamed Cockroach, to offer this exciting venture to Escobar, who, as the show introduces him, is already running a highly lucrative smuggling operation.

Pascal plays Javier Peña, the partner of Holbrook’s Murphy, who, in the first hour spends less than a minute on screen. Much of that is due to the fact that ‘Descenso’ spends most of its time suspended somewhere between fictionalized chronicle and documentary, providing a cursory glimpse of Escobar’s rise in the drug trade and an equally cursory look at the events that brought Murphy to Colombia.

Masters of Sex – S03xEp09 –

Bill Masters is now driven to distraction by jealousy. And I can also say that the drinking scene, which united Bill and Libby in their darkened home as they tried to drown their very separate sorrows together, was “Masters” at its most masterful: A moment of deep psychological ugliness exquisitely rendered.

They tried. They failed. It’s all in the past.

Comparing and contrasting some more: The unfortunately continuing sub-drama of Libby and Paul Edley is tedious. But Bill’s increasingly complicated relationship with Nora Everett is fascinating. I was prepared for something bad to emerge as Nora dug her way into Masters’ practice, but was nonetheless surprised by the sophisticated way in which a story of abuse was brought to light through half-confessions. (“How hard I’ve worked to be a better person” … “I thought it was my fault” … “I think I have to do what people say or they won’t love me.”)

Bill can sense that Gini is growing closer to Dan, though he doesn’t know at exactly what capacity. I was worried for a little while that he would spend the entire episode being jealous of her, but luckily Nora enters the scene just in time to snag his attention. Yes, her backstory about having an abusive father—the same backstory that Bill has—is a little too convenient, but I’m interested to see where this goes. I still think she’s far too young for him, and that their coupling would be gross, but Bill spent the majority of this episode pining for Gini. I wonder if she’ll start to do the same towards him.

Masters Of Sex – S03xEp08 – SURROGATES

After watching Bill and Virginia break the rules whenever it suited them, Betty finally stood up for herself when confronted by Bill on Masters of Sex Season 3 Episode 8.

Virginia needs to get away from Bill more often! Even though she failed to relax and enjoy a day of pampering paid for by Daniel, Virginia still managed to smile more than she has in a while. As Virginia fakes having the flu to secure a few days in Las Vegas with Dan Logan, Bill expresses concern with an eye to launching the clinic’s sex surrogacy program, despite her objections. It’s a moment of mutual dissembling that suggests, with far more subtlety than last week’s dreadful “Monkey Business,” the gulf that’s opened between Bill and Virginia this season — and the steps each has taken to fill it.

Virginia’s impressive performance on the telephone depends, after all, on understanding her longtime collaborator and now-former lover: “It’s important for Bill to think that it was his idea,” she explains. What’s interesting, in this context, is that Dan doesn’t quite understand her: he schedules Virginia a Swedish massage, a shopping trip, and an appointment at the beauty parlor, all of which she cancels the moment he leaves the room. (I’m reminded here of Ginny’s polar opposite, Betty Draper, who relishes the chance to get dolled up in a sexy black dress and practice her Italian on a couple of flirts in the “Mad Men” entry “Souvenir.”) Whereas Bill accepts and indeed appreciates the fact that Virginia’s an inveterate workaholic, Dan occasionally tries to shoehorn her into a role she’s unwilling to play — the happy housewife.

“I don’t know what it is, Dr. Masters, but you’ve changed,” the bizarre new character, Nora, says. I, personally, preferred the selfish yet ardent man who stood on Virginia’s doorstep in the pouring rain declaring his passionate need to keep her in his life. Taking, you might argue, rather than giving, given the circumstances. But still.

Some final thoughts: Thank god for Dr. Austin Langham, our faithful old friend, whose mere presence reminds us of better days. Is it any accident that he has his back turned as we’re forced to witness his deflowering of Helen while Betty holds her hand? Let’s hope there’s more for him to do in the coming weeks than serve as a stand-in for the horses on the stud farm evoked by Nora.

Masters Of Sex – S03xEp07 – Monkey Business

Bill and Virginia ventured into new territory by working with a male gorilla. Unfortunately, the storyline proved less interesting than the rest of the episode. 

The story line only gets weirder when Virginia steps next to the cage with Bill to record Gil’s behavior. In a genius cutaway, the scenes toggle back and forth between Jane and Keith engaging in Bill and Virginia’s therapy and Virginia coaxing Gil with some words of encouragement. Things get really odd when Gil starts pointing through the cage at Virginia’s breasts, and Bill convinces her to give the animal what he wants, a good long look at her boobs. Turns out even gorillas like a good fantasy when engaging in sex and one look, we hope, was all it took for Gil to get back in the saddle. I wonder what would have happened if they showed him porn. The scientific ramifications of this could be huge Bill thinks, because performance, even in animals, is related to the psyche. Bill is less concerned with what he asked Virginia to do. She previously helped Bill get over his impotence—why would she be reluctant to help a gorilla with the same problem?

I wish more time were devoted to Betty and Helen because those two are wonderful to watch. Helen’s desire to have a baby seemed stronger than Betty’s, but Betty’s willingness to help her was sweet.

Daniel Logan came face to face with Tessa, but didn’t know she was Virginia’s daughter. I was a little worried that Daniel would hit on Tessa, but thankfully his thoughts were solely on Virginia.

Dan Logan is still trying to figure Virginia out and she’s not making it any easier. She may be willing to compare having sex with him to seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, but everything else about her she plays really close to the vest. Still Dan is savvy enough to know that Bill is not good enough for Virginia, a fact that’s becoming more and more apparent to Virginia as time goes on. “I like Bill, I’m just not sure I like him for you,” he says. “Guys like Bill are a lot of work. Impressive but combustible as hell.”

Meanwhile Libby is feeling horribly guilty for spilling Joy’s secrets to Paul, which have left him a complete mess. Yet who should understand how he’s feeling more than Libby? Paul’s wife has been left in a vegetative state, while Libby’s relationship with Bill is pretty vegetative itself. These two are meant for each other, and it’s actually a surprise how long it’s taken for them to get together considering how fast things move in this show.

Suits – S05xEp10 – FAITH

All night, it seemed like Mike was close to taking the decision to leave his fraudulent ways behind. Quitting the firm, like Trevor suggested, appeared to be the only way to do so, but Mike needed a little bit of help resolving himself to that future. Enter Father Sam. As a rule, I don’t particularly love it when a new character is introduced out of the blue who just so happens to have a long and meaningful history with one of our main cast. It’s hard to get invested in someone who is so clearly a plot device.

Father Sam: There’s a difference between intelligence and wisdom, and if you don’t figure that out eventually, you’re going to have a lot bigger problems than an F. Because you can’t outsmart-
Mike: God?
Father Sam: I know. I know you don’t believe in God. So let’s just call him… consequences.

The scene where he showed Mike the donated books his parents used to read to him? Tears were shed. Both by the absolutely brilliant Patrick J. Adams and myself, curled up in a ball on my couch, in desperate need of a hug.

Pearson, Litt, and Donna Paulsen battled against Jack Soloff, Daniel Hardman and Charles Forstman  to save the firm. Soloff did not accept Paulsen’s offer to resign. He called an emergency partner vote of no-confidence. The day of the vote, Specter delivered a letter signed by Forstman that indicated he had dropped Hardman as his lawyer. Specter then pleaded Paulsen’s case. In the end, everyone voted to keep Paulsen, and Specter announced his exit.

Since its beginning, the promise of Suits was that, one day, Mike’s secret would come out in a way he couldn’t undo. Some believed this time was when Jessica learned of it at the end of season one. Then, some believed it was when Louis learned of it in the middle of last season. However, the real time is now. This time, Mike isn’t at risk of termination. He’s at risk of a prison sentence.

It would be a shame to see the writers take such a big turn only to undo it all by saying, “well, he wasn’t under arrest for that fraud, so it’s okay.” Ultimately, it really is time for this part of the Suits journey to come to a close. Mike’s secret can only crop up so many times before it starts losing its impact, and how much worse can it get than, “it’s threatening the sanctity of his and Rachel’s personal life?” If there was a time for Suits to make good on its promise to the audience, it was now, and there’s no reason to not be happy it did.