At least one of these was the final episode. but, was that final episode enough to put it on top? Honestly, I have to write something here, so creating fake drama is about as good as this gets.

6) Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Damn. That was cold. On top of Cody not wanting to follow orders, the man shouting at him had the most annoying voice, so when that scene played out the way it did, I was a bit surprised. I thought Cody was going to shoot his obnoxious leader.

Episode Grade: B

5) The Masked Singer (FOX/hulu)

English Audio Description?: No

That was definitely quite an achievement to get the buzz going at the top of the season. Good for the Gnome. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but all the judges are wrong, and he’s still beloved and his presence elevates the show. Honestly, while I’m pretty sure I know who Medusa is, and agree with a guess that was made already, I actually would have kept Mustang. I didn’t realize how terrific her voice truly is. Maybe I’m turning into a curmudgeon, but Mustang just sings, while Medusa has this weird affectations in her voice that are cool, but she doesn’t just *sing*. Mustang just sings, and I’d much rather listen to her for an hour.

Episode Grade: B

4) Welcome To Chippendales (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

It felt like some kind of extended post credits sequence. I know the writers did their best to make the length of this episode seem necessary, but really we did not need all of this. Yes, the acting is very much on point, and Kumail nails every scene, but when you dissect the meat of what we’re trying to do here, it’s actually padded quite a bit. The 7th episode was stronger, this one just kind of answers the question as to how it resolves. And, by not flipping to the other supporting characters, we don’t even get a “where are they now?” For Juliette Lewis or Andrew Rannells. Wherever the fuck they went, apparently is not important.

Episode Grade: B+

3) Kaleidoscope (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

In the orange episode, also known as 3 weeks before, it was the first time I was angry at the show. We got to spend a lot more time with this detective who has this absurd vendetta, and every scene she was in made me dumber as a person. She goes in on one scene to explain her past and how she wants in on the investigation, and it’s because the lawyer blamed her for her clients death because she didn’t take the claim seriously because she was inebriated at the time. So, the detective’s rationalization here is that this lawyer, who made a claim about a client, that turned out to be true, because she filed a complaint, that was true. She admits that she was “using”. Then, later on, we see her in this “custody battle” for her kid, but she’s still relentlessly pursuing this other bullshit. Finally, when she has the upper hand, and she’s lost her damn kid, instead of making the bargain with the lawyer to get her kid back, she continues to bring down this self righteous hammer of justice. Most unlikable and unrelatable character in a show I’ve seen in quite some time. The rest of the episode is excellent, but holy shit on this character.

Episode Grade: B+

2) Doom Patrol (HBo MAX)

English Audio Description?: Yes

They all get turned into teenagers should have been more fun, and the episode didn’t have a resolution. Perhaps I enjoyed the previous episode before a bit more. On the flip side, the audio description, from William Michael Redmond, who reminded me that this is his audio description in my Wakanda forever review (mea culpa) is still fantastic, and honestly probably challenging to write considering how many rabbit holes you feel like you’ve fallen into sometimes with this show.

Episode Grade: A-

1) Dead To Me (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Well, Judy finally did what I thought was always going to happen in the 9th episode of the season. Only one more episode to go. Nice guest star appearance from Katey Sagal, and Christina Appelgate definitely makes the case for her to be an Emmy nominee this year.

Episode Grade: A-