TV Shows Watched: The Handmaid’s Tale: S6E4 (Hulu) with audio description,American Idol: S23E10 (Hulu) no audio description, Devil May Cry: S1E4 (Netflix) with audio description, Dope Thief: S1E6 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Midcentury Modern: S1E3 (Hulu) with audio description, and The Daily Show: Monday (Paramount Plus) no audio description

Best Episode: The Handmaids Tale: the episode was a series of great beats for several of the supporting cast. When June once again tried to martyr herself because she felt that Luke and Moira are incompetent, they railed against her for infantilizing them. Moira is tired of living June’s life, and Luke feels like he needs to do something for his daughter. We saw Serena being wooed, which really made me wonder if this show would allow her to have a happy ending. I’m guessing No, and she needs to enjoy that dance while she can. She’s far too responsible, and hasn’t been given the kind of screentime required to turn a villain into a hero.The Walking Dead found ways of redeeming several characters over its run, from Negan (which took a long time), to the transformation of Gabriel, but the reason those worked is those characters had time to earn it. Serena has six episodes.

Runner Up: Dope Thief- the government has let out the father (Ving Rhames) with an ankle monitor that allows them to spy on him. So, he has to find ways of listening to loud music in order to help his son, in a very chaotic episode, which ends with a bang.

best Audio Description: The Handmaid’s Tale- I liked a lot of this episode, even though there wasn’t a lot happening. The dance segment with Serena was beautifully captured, giving us this sense of false hope. It also did a nice job of relaying the choices the actors make, supporting their performances.

Runner Up: Devil May cry- This animated offering continues to have excellent audio description, even if this episode had a bit less monsters and fighting, and more of an exploration of the genealogical background of our lead.

best Performance: Samira Wiley (the Handmaids tale)- Shoutout also to OT, but between the two people who got to clap back this week at June, Moira’s delivery was more devastating, when she told June she doesn’t want to live her life, and being taken aback at how little June actually thinks of their ability to survive. Finally, she just turns and walks off and says she’s going. that’s final.

Runner Up: Ving Rhames (Dope Thief)- Rhames has had very little screentime until now, but he realizes that he doesn’t have much time to mend fences with his son, and also relay important knowledge to him at a time when shit is getting very real for all involved.Rhames is undervalued often as an actor, and feels like the right choice to play father to Brian Tyree Henry.

Best Moment Of Audio Description: the Dance (The Handmaid’s Tale)- I don’t know why, but I just loved the audio description on this. The way the lighting was referenced, the mention of them dancing cheek-to-cheek, the smile on her face, the stolen glance from him, and all of this being watched by Aunt Lydia.

Runner Up: The Ending (Dope Thief)- Really the episode is fast paced, with there being a clear fever pitch being reached. We are seeing conversations with people in the past, and the realization of the future. Manny is making poor life choices, and as one character experiences being rushed through a hospital, another experiences… well… I guess we’ll find out next episode. But, the whole episode felt like it was pushing toward something, and then it cluster bombed at the end, yet the audio description did a good job of helping things make sense.

Worst of… normally I just use this time to once again bitch about the lack of audio description on the 23rd season of American idol. However, that last girl… her cover of Defying Gravity was a music crime. I think she’s a good singer, but that performance was a representation of what happens when everyone around you just says Yes. that is by far the worst defying Gravity I’ve ever heard, and I can’t imagine what would possess anyone to tell her that was a good choice, and then to have the judges universally praise it. then again, they don’t actually give meaningful feedback anymore, and everything is always the best performance they have ever heard. Do you realize how absolutely insane it is to hear Lionel Richie say that? for someone who has worked with the talent he’s worked with, to be around as long as him, for him to ever use that sentence without also finishing it “from you” or “this season” is the most insincere thing he could say. It doesn’t even make sense. If the statement were true, we should stop the show, and immediately crown that person and throw them in a recording studio for being the messiah of music. That Defying Gravity was so bad I wish i could vote against her. i wish I could trade in my ability to vote for contestants to stay, so i can vote for her to go home. If you enjoyed that performance, you aren’t a fan of Wicked, and your taste in music is highly suspect. She also is shredding the shit out of her voice. From a pedagogical standpoint, what she’s doing with her voice is not sustainable, and because the song was such a hot mess, she wasn’t even really consistently on pitch. I wish What Not To Sing was still active, because that would have to be one of the lowest rated in the history of the show. Worst since Sanjaya. Am I mad at the girl? Maybe a little. I’m more mad at the series of professionals who knew better and let that happen.