TV Shows Watched: From- S2E7 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Squid Game: S3E3 (Netflix) with audio description, The Bear: S4E9 (Hulu) with audio description, Drag Race All Stars: S10E9 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Invasion: S1E1 (Apple plus) with audio description, We Were Liars: S1E5 (Amazon) with audio description, Such Brave Girls: S1E2 (Hulu) with audio description, The Great North: S5E15 (Hulu) no audio description

Best Episode: The Bear, Runner Up: Squid Game

Best Audio Description: Squid Game, Runner Up: From

Best Performance: Jamie lee Curtis (The Bear), runner Up: Jeremy Alan White (The Bear)

Best Moment Of Audio Description: The Writings On The Wall (Squid Game), Photos (The Bear)

From- A productive episode. Randall does post an interesting question about whether or not any of the people who came before he, or Jim, can be trusted, as theoretically there could be a spy in the midst. I don’t think that’s true, since they wouldn’t need to use Sarah the way they do. But it did make me think, Victor has clearly been here the longest, but what is the hierarchy after him? Also, dissecting a creature was a smart move. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending to the episode, with Elgin, since it feels like breaking protocol. Maybe it was just a dream?

Squid Game- I loved how they mentioned the writing on the wall. i don’t know what those words were, but there are words on the wall. Of course the next game is jump rope. I know they ended on a cliffhanger moment, and the girl with the broken ankle is screwed, but I’ve already lost every other character I care about. now that they made the baby a player, I can see how this ends. like, who gets down to the final two against a baby and decides to kill the baby? It feels like the more interesting move is to pull a Hunger Games and announce that two people can win, if one is the baby. the poor mother though. I wish she had stuck around, though I’d imagine jump rope wouldn’t be her thing either.

The Bear- Jamie and Jeremy were such excellent scene partners to each other in an episode steeped in reconciliation. I loved how we tried to describe some of the photos they were going through, which seemed a little unnecessary since Carmie didn’t recognize almost all of them. But I was a little worried that the overly long Episode 7 was going to be Jamie’s episode, and I’m so glad she got this one. Beautiful work. Her work on The bear might be her best dramatic work as an actress.

Drag Race All Stars- The Top 9 are solid. I’m still happy.

Invasion- Another series I hit and quit, that went on to have a much longer run. The new season drops in August, so I figured i would take a second look at it. It doesn’t feel quite like the quality of other Apple shows of this ilk like Foundation, For All Mankind, or Silo. It does feel like the show is somehow a notch below, but that’s just after the pilot. The audio description was fine. I believe it was Jedidiah Barton.

We Were Liars- So, narrator choices aside, let’s talk about the writing. There’s something really complex happening here, and man they took a swing. So, our core relationship at the end of the episode, is rekindling their romance (so to speak), and the show decides to intercut and weave between a sex scene in the past, with one in the present. So, the audio description had to constantly label which was being shown, as we jumped back and forth… a lot. It was a strong choice, and the perky narrator makes no sense, but I was never lost which is kind of the point. I felt like I got what they were doing here. i would have selected it for Moment, if it weren’t being narrated by this voice. Casting. All AD companies are casting voice talent whether you believe that’s true or not. Otherwise, you are basically running an audio book production company that would put Gilbert Gottfried (RIP) on every single book regardless of what it was, or its content, simply because either he’s a known quantity as a voice talent, or because you like working with him. Casting is so important.

Such Brave Girls- Wins the distraction award. I don’t foresee this staying on my list. it was the show I checked my phone the most during.

The Great North- Just another episode, which saw the kids try Beef’s coffin. Weird, but oddly on brand for this show.