Still a work week, so only five shows battle it out. Let me tell you, be ready for a surprise.

1) The Lake (Amazon)

English Audio Description?: Yes

In a shocking turn of events, a show that has never topped the list broke through in like the 7th episode of the series. What we had here was the return of birth mother (who hilariously was just called that in the audio description until someone said her name), which allowed for a lot of context to how Billie came to be in the first place, how a kick ass chill girl like her ended up sleeping with a gay guy, and a neat little Time Capsule that showed all the stuff from back when they had her. It gave her character more shape and depth. Meanwhile, Justin manages to help opal with their talent show project, despite the feud he has with his sister. This allowed for some bonding between two characters who have never had screentime together to do so. Follow that up with a performance of “You Gotta Be”, revealing our star can also sing her butt off, and this was the best episode of the series so far.

Episode Grade: A

2) Locke and Key (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I know it felt like a foregone conclusion that Locke and key would top every single week out, but that wasn’t true this week. While I loved aspects of the show, especially Jackson Robert Scott’s performance as *Spoiler*, the show did manage to have some leaps in logic. I know Netflix crushed the soul of the show by cramming it all into one final season, and they are trying to do their best, but between introducing and unceremoniously getting rid of Carly, her character felt like a waste of time. No one, literally no one, seemed at all concerned that their librarian was scalped, or at the very least is missing. Does no one go to the library in this town? Rufus should have said something. And Kenzie could have at least tried to get Tyler drunk again to ask one more time before just going straight to the memory key.

Episode Grade: A-

3) Rutherford Falls (Peacock)

English Audio Description?: Yes

in an episode that found us surrounded by firefighters and cannabis, the least interesting thing turned out to be watching two men that are supposed to be there to help with a campaign just stand around and make fun of the firefighters, only to get caught, and put Nathan in some bizarre scenario. Of all the Rutherford episodes, this came off of such a terrific episode, so it’s dance with mediocrity was all the while more depressing.

Episode Grade: B+

4) Physical (Apple Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Physical is a show that goes up and down and all around for me. Sometimes in an episode, it has scenes that really work, with scenes that really don’t. Her husband started off strong, coming off an episode which saw him really taking her eating disorder seriously. But later, he just kinda gives up on it, and goes back to being a useless doofus. I liked where his character was headed for once, meaning that I was starting to like a character in the show who isn’t played by Rose Byrne, but then… by the end, he’s a moron again. I did really love that she finally came to terms out loud about her Bulimia even if it was met with an inappropriate response from a character desparately trying to be her best friend. I know she felt betrayed, but taht’s like if your best friend was selling self help and tranquility, and they told you they were on medication that helped them cope with their suicidal tendencies, and you were just like “fuck you!”. I know what the writers were hoping to achieve, but sadly this series has never had a strong enough supporting cast to be able to pull something like that off. I jsut went back to not liking a character I didn’t like before.

Episode Grade: B

5) Maggie (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Four episodes in, and I’d much rather watch a show centered around Angel, as Angel always seems to have his shit together. To be fair to Maggie, there’s a glimmer of supporting cast here. It’s possible that Maggie could grow into something, but this episode about Maggie trying to avoid a fight with her boyfriend just so they don’t have a fight she had a vision about, was kind of lackluster. Sorry, it just was. It did allow for the supporting cast to take more front and center plot lines, so I tight serve the series in the long run, even if this episode was just OK.

Episode Grade: B-