It’s a recap of my birthday, so obviously I spent the day popping bottles. TV? What is that? It was honestly a solid birthday, with a nice dinner. And I did manage to watch a few shows, so let’s talk about them.

Sweet Tooth (Netflix) was giving me like a mild panic attack. When Wendy was trying to figure out how to get to Becky, I thought for sure that they would grab her and use her to get to Becky. Thank freaking God. That scene with Rosie having to kill her son was *a lot*. Like, this is the life you choose? It was nice to hear even the audio description was shocked. “she aims the gun at…. HER SON!” It landed with even more of a punch because it was like the audio description narrator was right there with me, and we were in agreement that this was shocking and horrifying. Meanwhile, honestly, what happened when Gus and Company found the boat was far less interesting, involving some sailor named Darwin, and the possibility that Jep might have gotten “the sick”, which he didn’t.

So my great hope, and I think I speak for everyone, is that the TV adaptation of Presumed innocent (Apple Plus) doesn’t follow suit with the film. I say this because the movie has been in the top 10 on the Apple Store for the past couple weeks, so to retread that is something now everyone is expecting. I feel like this series is doing a much stronger job of selling the story from Jake Gyllenhaal’s perspective, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have an unreliable narrator. Case in point, in the third episode, he learns and has to divulge that someone saw him at the house that night. I would say that I think that the show overall is doing a solid job of punching when it needs, but I cannot for the life of me understand the character choices one of the cast is making. The funny thing is, he keeps doing interviews with people asking him what his process was, and why he chose to speak like that? And I feel like that is the entertainment journalist way of saying “Dude, WTF?”

I’m two more episodes into My Queen Jane (Amazon), or as you might know it, My Lady Jane. But after episode three, they start opening the episode with Queen instead of Lady. So, I’m watching this show swiftly so I can do more reviews of a show, and this dropped with all episodes. I buried the lead a bit in the beginning, just making reference to shows like it in the previous days Diary, but now I’m revealing that the show also deals with metamorphosis. basically, there are Ethians who are able to change into an animal. In the current Kingdom, they are considered outcasts, but Jane ends up betrothed to one, and becomes personally invested in finding a cure. Therefore, in later episodes, we see that dynamic playing out on a broader scale. Princess Mary is determined to get Jane out of the way, since she wants to be in charge, and was the one who “killed” the previous King. It’s hilarious, but my original complaint stands. This is a half hour show. At some point, every episode feels like it is dragging in some section. The built in narrator is hilarious, and the audio description is really good, having to deal with an increasing amount of animal transformations. Again, if you loved The Great, but would substitute some of the gore for some animal transformations instead, you’d probably love this. And yes, The Great filled its runtime perfectly.

I also watched the second episode of That 90’s Show (Netflix), now in its second season. It ends with a shocking breakup, which really isn’t that shocking, because this is a small group of teens, and they have a lot of breaking and making up to do, especially if they are ever going to date anyone else. The sad truth is because they are holding tight to the dynamic, I worry that the lone gay kid in the group will spend forever alone, no matter how many seasons this show runs. He has no immediate partner within the group, and That 70’s Show wasn’t exactly known for introducing a ton of recurring characters for the group to date. Would the Netflix sequel break that mold?

And the best for last. In near record time, Hulu uploaded the missing audio description for The bear (Hulu), at some point early on Friday. When I made my diary post, it was still missing it. But somewhere when I checked later around noon, it had audio description. And it’s motherfucking Roy Samuelson in the house! Dude is everywhere. That was the most somber opening to a “comedy” i think I’ve ever seen. If someone had never seen The bear before, and just watched only S3E1, they would wonder why this show was competing in the comedy category. I’ve been seeing some very mixed reviews on the season, but I shall form my own opinion. I only wish I had been able to watch this on Thursday with everyone else, and when I had more time.

A year older, and a year wiser. What do i want to do or change in the next year?

First, I need to catch up and stay caught up between posting a review to YouTube, and posting a review here. I want to close that gap.

Second, if me being on FYC lists ends up with me getting press packets with images from the film I can use, I might start using featured images again. Iv’e avoided it, because I’m one man, who can’t always see the image, or trust what it is. But if a studio was sending me stuff directly, that could change.

And Third, I need to investigate how/if I can turn off auto play on every streaming service. It is directly effecting how I get my audio description credits.