I May Destroy You (2020)

Michaela Coel is undeniably brilliant. She is uncompromising in her bold vision. Her characters say and do things that no one else would get away with. She creates complex, imperfect, messy characters. Arabella is a promising if unproductive writer. Terry is her sometimes overbearing ride-or-die. Kwame is an unassuming sex addict. Coel is indeed so uncompromising that it is sometimes hard to sympathize. Even when they do the right thing, when Terry unflinchingly supports her friend's self-care routine for instance, they do it in such a way that may actually be harmful.  She resists clear answers, preferring to explore the ambiguities for moral righteousness that perhaps doesn't exist. This makes I May Destroy You a challenging watch. It is not immediately accessible but it is ultimately rewarding. Coel probes several variations on the theme of consent, as well as others. The themes are both universal and culturally specific to the black British experience. She loses me a bit in the middle episodes, but she absolutely nails the landing. The last two episodes are excellent. The finale puts the title I May Destroy You into perspective. I hadn't given that qualifier a second thought until it became clear what it meant. Arabella plays through several different scenarios in her head, some of which involve her destroying her rapist (raper in British English). But in a fitting ending, she learns how to move on.

Wandavision (2021)

Wandavision ushers in a new era, not only for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but for television itself. It is the first must-see TV since Game of Thrones. It's what everyone is talking about (online, but maybe we would have discussed in person if not for the pandemic). It was appointment viewing, week to week, liable to crash Disney+ more than once. Everyone had to watch soon so as to avoid spoilers. Of course, because the miniseries is not standalone, we have to watch if we're to follow the increasingly complex MCU plot. A couple dozen movies in, it's too late to quit now. So in that way too, though it's not the first Marvel television show, it is the first for Marvel Studios, making viewing as required as with the blockbuster movies that have defined a generation of movie-going.  

 

It is fitting that this landmark sitcom pays homage to the sitcoms of yesteryear. I think the creative experimentation that makes the show unique is its strongest feature. The first couple episodes sending up the sitcoms of the 50s and 60s are the best, before the show dives deep into the MCU lore. Elizabeth Olson especially plays the 50s housewife very convincingly, and later plays Claire Dunphy from Modern Family spot on too. Sitcom actors Randall Park and Kat Dennings both add comic relief in their supporting roles. With each new era, the set changes, the costumes change, the fake "commercials" change, the songs and opening titles change (Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez are on fire) and even the comedy changes. Though the sitcom is a universal genre, our comedic tastes have evolved over the decades. And I quite liked the clever reveal about how American sitcoms comforted Wanda in her Sokovian childhood. It was natural that she would turn to them in her period of grief. Indeed, the central theme of the show is grief, perhaps unusual for the superhero genre.