Welcome to a shorter list yet again. Can you tell that my work is a bit busier? That’s what these shorter lists lead to.

1) House Of The Dragon (HBO/HBOMAX)

English Audio Description Available?: Yes

Despite a strong showing this day from… well… nothing else, Hosue of The Dragon slayed again. This is a show that is structured and written well enough to restore faith, much like Better Call Saul that Prequels are sometimes the way to go, instead of a spinoff or a sequel. I know we all wanted an Arya Stark series, but this show is still creating a world and a slew of characters to care about and to hate. I know we will be really getting into stuff later in the season as there is a true Game of Thrones happening,with complex levels of manipulation, but it’s still nice to have a few characters that seem nice enough. For now.

Episode Grade: A

2) Love Victor (Hulu/Disney Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I really don’t know, nor do I pretend to understand the choices being made by the writers this season. I’m hoping the finale somehow makes up for everything else, but this has been a very uneven and thrown together season. After finding out that he ruins people lives, Victor decides to do a good deed and help some rando named Liam, who is a pain in the ass, but keeps his sound notifications on so Victor can hear the gay dating app on his phone. So, he tries to help mentor Liam in life, but Liam freaks out and runs away. Rather than resolving that storyline, we instead are reintroduced to fuckboy nick. Because that’s what we needed more of. nick. Meanwhile, Pilar had the best moments of the show with her Dad, later to ruin it by breaking up with Felix. Girl, you’re the one who wanted to have revenge sex because of your father. Didn’t you ever think, or perhaps the writers think, to address that? At some point? Poor Raheem was left with the prospect of a boyfriend who spills wine on boys he likes, and four of the supporting cast (well, really six), were crammed into just minutes of storytelling as Mia gained a brother. Mia is often the unsung savior of the show, and when she’s pushed so far out of an episode, it does actually make the show suffer. Not the best episode, and I hear Nick gets hit by a bus in the next episode.

Episode Grade: B

3) The Bear (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: No

Listen, I’m having a hard time here. I need audio description for this show, you Hulu fuckers. This is one of your critically acclaimed hits, already picked up for a second season, and it’s so hard to follow. I’m three episodes in, and I do not know how many people work in the Goddamn restaurant. Audio description would at least help a little with that. Add to that, the cousin who thinks he knows how to cook is obnoxious beyond belief. i can’t imagine watching him like this for two seasons. If he doesn’t get some character growth soon, he’s going to pull the show off my list as the lack of audio description is quickly making me dislike this title. I stopped watching The Old Man with one of my favorite actors because Hulu refuses to upload the existing full season of audio description, and I have no problem walking away from this too.

Episode Grade: B

4) The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Shocker. Cancer. Like, we didn’t see that coming. Sadly, I’d like to say I was emotionally impacted by this, but that actress is the weakest on the series, so perhaps this is a good thing. Not saying in life, but for a tv show to find any way to write off their weakest link, especially when it can emotionally impact those around them, is actually a good thing. Meanwhile, this love triangle is madness. She is the most indecisive female lead since Felicity. Again, this is just a high brow CW show, or a WB show from Dawson’s Creek/Summerland days.

episode Grade: C+