I went ahead and tried a second episode of something I said I was done with. I’m such a sucker. Eight shows in the rankings today, and not all had audio description. At least one brand new show. Will an old favorite end up on top?

8) American Gigolo (Paramount Plus/Showtime)

English Audio Description?: No

Since P+ doesn’t make the audio description available, I guess I will never really truly uncover the mystery of the murder in this series. The second episode was a bit easier to follow, as most are after you sit through one episode banging your head against a wall. this show is still really quiet with sparse dialogue, which makes it a pain in the ass to try and follow. As much as I love Jon Bernthal, I tried two episodes. If Paramount Plus ever feels like doing the right thing and actually offering basic accessibility to it’s blind and visually impaired users for this show, then maybe I’ll swing back by. But this is now an official farewell.

Episode Grade: C-

7) Fire Country (CBS/Paramount Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Now this one does have it, but I haven’t really been grooving with the acting and story choices on this show. I appreciate that they don’t always fight a fire every single episode, but like with this episode, and trying to rescue at least one sibling from an impossible situation, I should have been more moved than I was… and I just wasn’t. This was officially the winter break, and due to their being too many damn shows on TV, I don’t see me returning to Fire Country either.

Episode Grade: C+

6) The Santa Clauses (Disney Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I literally wish this show had done anything else with this plot. If that isn’t Bernard… I’m going to be upset. For the record, I really thought this would be an easy nostalgia boost, but this show proves that not all nostalgia works. It’s oddly paced, and the jokes aren’t always landing. It’s interesting just enough to keep me watching, but I’m happy that it’s a limited series, because I wouldn’t want much more of this.

Episode Grade: B-

5) History 101 (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

The season finale was on High Fructose Corn Syrup, which History 101 treats with that “it’s just like sugar” mentality, which means either they don’t care, or every other documentary on this is lying to us. Either way, I wanted so much more from the final episode of this season.

Episode Grade: B-, Season 2 Grade: B

4) So Help Me Todd (CBS/Paramount Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

The winter finale here saw them rescuing Lyle’s niece from being accused of eco terrorism. It’s a cute show, but I’m never really sure why I can’t love it enough to get it out of the B-Range. It’s like, I’d be OK if it got cancelled, but I’m not rooting for it.

Episode Grade: B

3) Yellowstone (Paramount)

English Audio Description?: No

I fell behind a week, but in the third episode… Jamie seems to be the target of this new attack on John Dutton. I feel like the woman taunting Jamie doesn’t know that he’s killed a few people, so she’d probably best be suited not being such a smart ass. Just a thought. Meanwhile, Casey quits his job to support his family, and surprisingly, John is really good with it.

Episode Grade: B+

2) The Peripheral (Amazon)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I’m not saying this was bad. What I am saying is that for the first part of this I wasn’t engaged at all until Chloe Grace Moretz put on the device. So, for like 15 minutes, I was trying to figure out why anyone liked the show. Then it kicked into gear, but even with that, it feels like they went for broke with a longer than typical pilot, and have introduced a whole lot of plot elements that might not even be necessary. We will see in the coming episodes. As a pilot, it fell short of perfect.

Episode Grade: A-

1) Cobra Kai (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

It feels good after all these episodes to put Cobra Kai back on top. An episode that showed Johnny actually standing up for Daniel reminded me of how far we’ve come, and seeing the entire gang come together ready to fight Silver, was inspirational enough. It’s weird that this is in the middle of the season, because it has so much payoff. I’m assuming Crease is about to realize that whole “the enemy of my enemy” thing, and try and help the gang stop Silver.

Episode Grade: A