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Doctor Who: Rosa (2018)
Remarkable, Emotional and Thoughtful
First off, I love Jodi Whittaker as the Doctor. She has the madcap energy that I loved in Matt Smith. But she has the benefit of Chris Chibnall's vision of the doctor. Unlike prior show-runner Steven Moffett's dark, broody Doctor, thus far in Chibnall's hands Whittaker has been funny, lively and spunky. She never loses her charm, even when faced with evil.
And this episode is aces. It traces how the Doctor and her new companions, Graham, Ryan and Yas, fight a white supremacist from the future who's trying to halt the beginning of the American civil rights movement by stopping Rosa Parks from taking her seat on the bus that started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, giving rise to MLK.
A few times along the way, I was worried that the Doctor would "save" Parks. That the Doctor's actions would make Parks's heroic stance less heroic for thier interference. I'll give no spoilers, but that did not happen. In fact, when the Parks incident unfolds, and you see it through the modern eyes of the companions, my heart swelled. With pride. And regard for this powerful woman who was poor as hell.
In the time of a rising tide of Neo-fascism and white supremacists, it was refreshing to see the evils of racism painted so bluntly. If I have a criticism of the show, it is that all southern white people were shown as racist. I'm sure it's not the case, then or now.
But then again, back i the Jim Crow 50's, society itself was as racist as depicted, with that racism codified in the Jim Crow laws. So if you read the characters as personifications of deep-seated societal racism, they hit.
Not only a home run, but a walk off grand slam in the bottom of 9th in game 7 of the World Series .
Lodge 49: Full Fathom Five (2018)
delightful yet realistic. gritty yet hopeful
Delightful. That's all I can say about the entire season of LODGE 49.
For the uninitiated, Lodge 49 is a lodge of a fraternal order, similar to the Elks, in Long Beach CA. But the CA it inhabits is not the glitzy reality of shallow, Hollywood shows, like BEVERLY HILLS, 90201. Instead, it inhabits what I called when I, a transplanted Rustbelt lad, lived in LA: "the city under The City." Which is to say, not Hollywood, not Burbank, not TV, records, movies. Disney or video games. Instead, LODGE 49 inhabits the world of salespeople, cops. shoe-leather journalists, waitresses and others who are just getting by.
And for all that, it's not oppressive. Because, well, this is life. Sure its hard. But deep, human connection are what pull us through.
This episode's plot, like much in the show, bucks what you think. Like many AMC ventures. But unlike some if its more comic book fare -- THE WALKING DEAD, PREACHER. etc. -- LODGE 49 seems more Pynchon to me.
The series' main character is an injured surfer unable to surf, Dud, who's simple and open and accepting and expecting a mystery to unfold at any second. Even when his dreams are dashed, and the world reveals itself as more mundane than magical, his faith burns, He's paired with a twin sister Liz who seems his opposite: driven, she works her tail off to repay the debt their deceased father saddled her with. And yet, when she lets down her hair, he's so spunky and quirky that she's every bit as off-the-beaten-path as Dud. Indeed, I found her story-line the most captivating, perhaps because it more resembles mine as a one-time corporate middle manager who "dropped out" to devote time to writing. salesman.
This all seems very Pynchon. From the name (an obvious allusion the THE CRYING OF LOT 49) to the characters, to the "twinning" of opposites. To the "secret" society of the Lynx. Which Dud joins, taking out a $2,000 title loan from a seedy pawnbroker and placing his sole possession, his car, at risk. All because he believes that the lodge will not only reveal to him the mysteries of the universe via the alchemical texts the lodge is "based" upon -- at least in theory -- but a rock-bottom belief in Ernie, a new friend that Dud has absolute faith in. Despite Ernie, for all his warmth and decency, being nothing but an everyman plumbing salesman.
The plot inhabits the gritty world 99% of Americans live. It's hard. But it also reveals a truth: the magic happens, not when we post crap online using post-industrial web 2.0 nonsense (like, sad to say, the IMDB). Not when we fall in with a tribe of like-thinkers, another danger that the web presents us. Those "communities" the show tells us, and for most of us reality has show, are fool's gold. Because the real gold comes when we connect with others. Like Dud and Ernie due via the lodge.
Which, in a truly remarkable fit of fancy, turns out to be nothing but a social club where people drink beer and host pancake breakfasts. And support each other through layoffs, plant closings and the loneliness that accompanies old age and illness.
But these seemingly mundane connections reveal magic. Which, int the LODGE 49 universe, can be quite bizarre.
Highly recommended. It's the most delightful yet realistic. gritty yet hopeful show I've watched for a long time.
Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018)
Whittaker Pops as the Doctor
Jodie Whittaker was a breath of fresh air as the Doctor. Like Matt Smith's first introduction into the role, which I loved and count among my favorite episodes of the reboot -- until he starts preaching, presaging the former show-runner Moffit's obsession with Batman-ifying the Doctor. It also revealed his penchant for intricate plotting which worked great when effective, but often tended to take away from the characters. Which is why I enjoyed Moffit's work with Smith, especially during their first season, since Smith brought a madcap energy and humor to offset the Batman aspects of the scripts. But the show bogged down with the more dour Capaldi as the Doctor.
Lucky for us, new show-runner Chis Chibnall seems to have a much lighter touch. He dished out an episode full of fun, funny moments and dashing adventure while introducing us to three new companions -- the nerdy, cautious yet courageous Ryan, the spark-plug Yas, and the older, staid Graham.
Introductory notes aside, I enjoyed the episode. I laughed. A lot. More than I have in a Doctor episode since the early Smith episodes. Sure, some people here are complaining about the low stakes here... but really? I mean, come on. When the Doctor's involved, waving about his sonic screwdriver like a Hogwart's student waves their magic wands. And like said wand, the sonic can do anything: unlock locks, analyze DNA, hack smart phones, pilot ships of alien origin... even liquefy evil replicants.
So even if the world isn't ar risk in this episode. is it ever when the god-like Doctor is present? Who sits like a sort of benevolent deity above humanity, illustrating what we're capable of at our best: smarts, morality and courage.
What I watch for in the Doctor is how he/she (henceforth, I'll use "she" to refer the Doctor generically, including previous incarnations of the Doctor for the length of Whittaker's run) elicits the best from regular, every day humans. How she teaches them, and us by extension. to strive for good over evil. How she forces them out of their comfort zones to face-down villains, which teaches them they have wells of strength they'd never imagined.
All things considered, an auspicious beginning for a new show runner, a new Doctor and three (?) new companions. Who represent such diversity anyone can relate to.
Lost in Space (2018)
Fun Family Space Opera w/ Pulpy Escapism BUT Deeply Flawed
This LOST IN SPACE reboot is fun but deeply flawed. Similar to the 1965 original, the Robinson family -- John (father), Maureen (mother) and their three children: 18 year-old Judy, 15-year-old Penny and 10-year-old Will -- are earthlings on their way to colonize Alpha Centauri. In classic pulp fashion, the mother ship is damaged (no spoilers as to why), so the colonists are forced to abandon ship on their private family Jupiter-class spacecraft. With, as in the original, the Robinson's being the Jupiter 2.
This is fun. It's pure Heinlein. It's a classic G-movie/ made-for-TV/ 50's pulp science fiction, family-friendly version of colonization, with Jupiters being the Conestoga wagons running through space instead of the American semi-arid west.
And the plot in general has that classic feel. Like Edgar Rice Burroughs's BARSOOM series, where the swashbuckling hero John Carter saves Mars from various villains, LOST IN SPACE \'s plot has a campy feel. The heroes are virtuous. But because of that innate goodness, they cannot see that some among them are bad. Which give the villains plenty of leeway.
Needless to say, this type of fiction appeals to the younger among us. So like the original, this reboot seems geared towards younger audiences. ANd I can report that ALL of my nieces and nephews in the 8 to 13-year-old aged range loved this show. It's all I heard of over Easter.
That said, an adult watcher should beware. The plot is often ridiculous. The characters are supposed to be the best and brightest which, to me, gives the plot an elitist feel.
For we adults, the writers have included some bad dystopian science fiction,There's a corrupt government, a never-ending war and hints of ecological disaster. But this strikes me as more X-FILES that real. Again, it's fun and fictional. As is the soap opera-like family dynamics addressed. John is a Navy Seal who volunteered for missions after he could have retired during the war (which we see no details of). This causes Maureen, an areonautical engineer, to be a cold and distant to him. Ergo, the family dynamic is a prime focus here. With a father trying to reclaim the love of his family against the solid, and understandable anger of his wife.
That said, the biggest flaw I saw in the series is lack of humor. Except f0r the hilarious Don West, who turns out to be a Han Solo-type mechanic with a brashe exterior but a heart of gold, every other character seems grim. They are Big-S Scientists. They lord over reality with somber observations and impeccable, rational logic.Even the young Will Robinson seems devoid of childish whimsy. And that's too bad.
Worse, in the original, the villain Doctor Smith played his character with campy glee. This added another layer of humor. Here, however, Doctor Smith (now a woman) is just a standard, manipulative villain. And very, very orally questionable.
And if that's not enough, the adult viewers will notice other flaws. The science is just wrong in several places... though I cannot say where to avoid spoilers. But as a for instance, remember that for a lake, ice freezes from the top-down, it's exposure to the cold air the ultimate cause.
But worse are the plot holes. For allegedly smart people, the colonists make stupid choices. They don't share key information with others. And after they learn of a T. Rex-like predator on the planet, they don't print guns on their 3-d printers. Worse, no one sees through Doctor Smith's way-too-obvious machinations. Perhaps it's their innate virtuousness, but I don;t buy that. No doubt the target audience will dismiss these flaws, but as adults, they gape and detract.
Flaws aside, I found the series enjoyable. Not great cinema, but passable TV that hearkens back to a simpler era. Your kids will love it. But you'll be aware of gaping plot-holes... but all the while pulled into the series by wanting to learn how x, y or z cliffhanger resolves.