The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-23)

At the best of times, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was the funniest show on TV.  I think Amy Sherman-Palladino was well aware of the criticism often levied against it by the New York Jewish viewers. It leaned heavily into Jewish stereotypes, and as the show progressed, it got more and more extreme. She said yes and doubled the ante. The parents were especially overbearing. But they were such genuine characters. And they were hilarious. It's a supremely winning cast.

The final season takes a daring narrative turn. We see several flash forwards, showing us where the characters end up. The rest of the season fills in the gaps to show us how they got there. Similar to Insecure, we see how a tight friendship dissolves. The ending has 3 endings: a televised set, a flashback to a restaurant scene with Luke Kirby, and a flash forward to Midge and Susie. The last one was sweet but I think I could've done without it. It might've been more poignant to end on Wo Hop. Luke Kirby tenderly played Lenny Bruce, a real life legendary comedian. There is a beautiful scene in which he performs All Alone on the Steve Allen show, word for word, beat for beat. It's funny and sad and poignant and perfect. I know Midge and Susie's relationship is the heart of the show, but Lenny is the real history behind the show. It gives the show some more heft above a standard comedy.

The look of the show was gorgeous. The costumes and set design transport you to the glamour of the 60s. It filled that Mad Men sized hole on television. The music drops too were very well done. I think the best arc on the series was when they went to the Catskills, aka the Borscht Belt. Takes you back to Nevele.

Underground Railroad (2021)

It almost pains me to give this a 4, but it also is difficult for me to recommend this in good conscience. By no means is it bad; it's as incredible as everyone says and I'm glad to have seen it, experienced it. But it's a super challenging watch. I think it's the most brutal depiction of slavery I've ever seen. And yet it's depicted with such mastery and dare I say beauty. The cinematography is stunning, and coupled with Nicholas Britell's haunting score, it is nothing short of beautiful. But beautiful just doesn't seem like the right word to describe a slavery tale. I think the shots that perhaps best epitomize Barry Jenkins's style is the shots in which the slaves stare down the camera. His camera is fluid (he loves those long takes), it moves around a lot, but the figures stand still and tall, dignified. Without words, with empathy, Jenkins confers upon them the dignity that they were denied. The imagery is extremely powerful. 

I was led to believe that it was more of a magical realist take on historical fiction, but it isn't quite magic. Though I suppose you could say that an actual underground railroad is something fantastical. Cora goes from one terrible locale to different kinds of horrible places. And when she finally finds supposed-paradise, it is snatched away in a rather painful episode. There is a heavy emphasis on testimony, that the escaped slaves must provide a written account in order to board the train. It is as if to say that people need to know what happened here, history demands it, lest we forget it. Thuso Mbedu does a lot of heavy lifting  as Cora, processing many complex emotions. And I think Joel Edgerton is actually extraordinary too as the slave catcher Ridgeway. 

I found the 10 episodes to be the opposite of binge-able. Especially in the early episodes, many of the depicted brutalities keep you from clicking next. Hard to do any more than a couple at a time. It's a lot to take in. The end credits of each episode are played over modern music, whether Outkast, Marvin Gaye, Mahalia Jackson, Childish Gambino or Kendrick Lamar. It's surprising, immediately pulling the viewer out of the world, giving us a respite from the horrors of the episode. An orchestral arrangement of Clair de Lune plays over a sensitive show-stopping love scene. The use of music is brilliant. Jenkins and Britell have one of the best director-composer partnerships in the business.

Forever (2018)

This one-off series from the co-showrunner of Master of None is a fantastic gem of a show. Over its short 8 episode arc, it morphs itself incessantly, bringing pleasant surprises every episode. My lone criticism is they could have worked on the world building a little bit more. Riverside is actually relatively fleshed out (save for the inexplicable mold) but Oceanside asks more questions than it provides answers. This does not detract from the funny script, and characteristically funny Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen, who plays essentially himself in Portlandia.

There are two noteworthy scenes/episodes of pure beauty that alone make the series worthwhile. The first is the opening of episode 1, a wordless montage, rhyming scenes from a marriage as the carousel of life passes by while Miles Davis's plays wistful trumpet in the background. The other is episode 6, a bottle episode, featuring two new characters, a bold move for a short series. The episode spans a full lifetime in just 35 minutes, fleshing out the overarching themes of the series with a new couple. Hong Chau and Jason Mitchell are both excellent in that episode. Their dialogue on realty, experience, race, and life is natural, funny, and touching, watching them fall in love at the wrong time, unfortunately it's never the right time. We watch them yearn and deny themselves the happiness that is within reach, a la Wong Kar Wai. It's a perfect episode that spurs June to take action in her life so that her "life" does not meet the same end.

Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18)

Amazon took a chance on a niche show, a romantic comedy centered around the dynamic world of classical music. It is admittedly a pretty terrible show but it has its moments. I think the biggest problem was that it focused on the romance between Hailey and Rodrigo, which was decidedly less interesting than the relationship between the orchestra members. The show shone best just watching the inner workings of an orchestra, including the quirky musicians, the union issues, the funding issues, and their day-to-day struggles. Gael Garcia Bernal deserved all the praise he got, playing the Gustavo Dudamel-like conductor, a hard-to-handle musical genius. However, the protagonist was arguably Hailey, played by Lola Kirke. I found that I didn't really care about her story, which sort of revolved around the orchestra but was never within the orchestra. She eventually ditched the oboe for conducting and her conducting acting was entirely unconvincing. I understand it's hard, but she looked kind of spastic.

I binged the first three seasons within a couple days. Despite it not being great TV, it's very watchable, it goes by very quickly. It has its moments. There were some excellent episodes: Ichi Go Ichi E, The Rehearsal, You Have Insulted Tchaikovsky, and the Pilot. And there's some fun traveling episodes, in Mexico, Venice and Japan. It is a fun show, even if not a great one.

One Mississippi (2015-17)

Amazon just pulled the plug after two seasons of Tig Notaro's semi-autobiographical tragicomedy. Tig Ntoaro is not everyone's cup of tea, but I think her deadpan humor is hilarious. Only in the era of streaming could a show so unusual have been produced. She had a story to tell that was poignant. And she told it in her own understated way. I think she's an auteur. And now she's free to go and do more unique things.