I almost finished a fifth show, but I got busy. That will be an easy one to knock off for tomorrow’s list, but I had a busier than usual Saturday. In my real life, I work in live theatre, so I balance my life also around rehearsals and shows and such. I live, breathe, and sleep this industry.

4) Wu Tang: An American Saga (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

In its final season, the clan has gotten pretty big, and RZA is feeling the weight of their rise to fame as their label expects projects, as do the fans, who keep asking members about their solo projects. The closer we get to fame, the less interested I become.

Episode Grade: B-

3) You (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

in the season 4 premiere of this always problematic show, Joe finds himself in a new location. Now, after the events of last season, you would think… maybe joe has a shot at hiding. No. This show has to go and complicate and over explain how Joe got where he is, with the job he’s got. It’s way too much, and totally unnecessary for this show. We’ve been watching this for three seasons, and I just accept that Joe magically gets away. I don’t need some dumb backstory on how.Then, to top things off, in this world he now exists, it turns out someone else is a murderer and trying to frame him for a change. Well, look at that. Penn Badgeley is still doing his usual unnervingly charming performance, and whoever writes his narration is very much on point. There was a line about mentally preparing himself to drive on the wrong side of the road that made me laugh. I’m sure this 4th season will be fine, but damn, how we got here was clunky as fuck.

Episode Grade: B-

2) Dear Edward (Apple Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Ok. So, there is something I need to talk about with this series, in a very weird way. I had *zero* knowledge of this show. I was just working down my list of shows to check out. The extent, 100% truth, was I knew it starred Connie Britton. That being said, this pilot, is both likely terrific, and also likely awful. It lives in this paradoxical dimension where both of these things are true. On one hand, it did a fantastic job balancing and introducing a rather large ensemble, and at least giving you a glimpse into everyone. On the other hand, if you go into this cold, this pilot also telegraphs so badly the outcome. Like, I didn’t know what the plot was, and i had it narrowed down to basically what I needed up getting. And why is that? Well, the episode clearly is leading you somewhere, to a catalyst. Now, where the show fails is not in the execution, or even the telegraph of something likely to come. It’s the fucking title of the damn show. When you choose to name a show dear Edward, and you run the pilot like this, there are very few possibilities of what could come. This is the spoiler free answer and paragraph. Don’t read the next one, if you don’t want to be spoiled.

This is the spoiler half. By doing what Jason Katims did, and having this episode where all these different groups were seemingly converging onto the same flight from New York to Los Angeles, we knew one of two things would happen. Something would happen to the passengers of this plane, like Lost or Manifest, and that would be the mystery of the show. There’s some focus on the characters who didn’t get on the plane, but not necessarily enough to suggest that they will become the focus. However, adding a couple looking at the possibility of adopting, that I believe neither of them got on the plane, and calling the show Dear Edward, while focusing quite a bit on Edward gave me a ton of pause. Then, when you have his entire family on board, you realize that we have a sole survivor situation ahead. Why else would you name an entire ensemble show after one character? Could you imagine if Lost was just called Hurley? No. So, even though it accomplishes likely what it needs to, it also wastes our time in the end, because there’s nothing that suggests anything except an outcome that has only Edward. My other scenarios that ran through my mind had Edward showing up at LAX as the only passenger on the plane, and everyone wondering what happened to everyone else on board, Edward being abducted by an alien force, or Edward being the only survivor of the plane crash. One of those things came true. So like I said, it’s a great and terrible pilot at the same time, because we are properly introduced, but it’s like playing cards with someone so over confident that they are holding their hand backwards.

Episode Grade: ????????????

1) Poker Face (Peacock)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Third episode was all about BBQ and Dog Justice! Truly, Rian Johnson has created a terrific show, and if Natasha Lyonne doesn’t get an Emmy nomination this year, something is wrong. I know Peacock has had a hard time getting emmy love, but this needs to be the show that changes that.

Episode Grade: A