TV Shows Watched: the Beast In Me: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, The Last Frontier: S1E5 (Apple TV) with audio description, South Park: S28E5 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, and Palm Royale: S2E1 (Apple TV) with audio description

The Beast In Me- This has been getting some critical acclaim. It got three Golden Globe nominations, for Limited Series, Claire Danes, and Matthew Rhys. While the series certainly is still building, the tension is palpable. This episode had Danes’s author contemplating her next moves with her potentially dangerous next door neighbor, and underestimating still the machinations he’ll use to continue to have the upper hand. Rhys as an actor has come so far from Brothers and Sisters, a role that never would have suggested he could be a total creep here. I’m excited to see how far he gets to go. Some excellent audio description, singling out the scene where he eats chicken, and how he makes sure to toss one chicken foot for each dog, and then the attempt at describing the artistic photo in danes’s house.

The Last Frontier- This still manages to be a lot of fun, with a villain being hunted by someone who doesn’t know him very well, but knows this area, and someone who does know the villain, but not the area. There’s definitely more to the story about whether anyone is truly a traitor, or if they are a whistleblower with knowledge people would kill for. The audio description remains strong here, notably in a pivotal sequence where someone is shown after being hit by a car.

South Park- What an odd Christmas episode, but also a very pointed takedown of the lack of caring. When Mr Mackey explains why he has no money for charity, it feels like real people speaking through him. Trump and Vance just wish him a requisite Merry Christmas and move on to something they care about. One of the better things about me falling behind is actually hearing the audio description for South Park. It is pretty good, considering South Park often doesn’t make a lot of sense. Just trying to explain Towlie, for example would be a challenge. However, since he was first created years ago, they don’t have to worry about that right now. That’s someone else’s problem. I was waiting to see if they’d have to explain a certain Christmas miracle, but nope. And the reasoning behind it was darkly funny.

Palm Royale- Why is this show so long? Why isn’t it funnier? I remember not loving the first season, but being a fan of the performances by Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, and Carol Burnett. It needs to be shorter, and have more bite to it. This premiere dragged for me. The audio description was what it needed to be, but I’d almost appreciate someone trying to make this show seem funnier than it is, because it may not stay on my watchlist. Even with this banner cast. Even with Carol freaking Burnett.