"P" Shows I'm Watching: "The Perfect Couple" & "Pachinko"

Plus TV and film stuff, a book reco, and musings on the letter "P" along with an open letter for Nicole Kidman, wherever she may be

Ps are popping up everywhere in entertainment.

Whether it’s the two many Nicole Kidman shows of late with the word “Perfect” in the title which feels oddly and icily “perfectly” suited to her, or the theme song for an ‘80s show we thought long since put to bed strategically placed in the middle of one of our favorite shows, or romantic city locales for exquisitely dressed fictitious American marketing professionals seeking ex-pat life (another Kidman show!), the “p” pattern it’s there. Disclaimer: This observation of a trend may or may not be a byproduct of my current preoccupation with true crime content.

Before we talk about Kidman and her questionable TV choices of late, consider the following shows.

It’s Back:

❗❤️ Emily in Paris on Netflix has returned for the second half of season 4 in the U.S. Our favorite gamine American cliche, Emily, is back for more love drama in this Darren Star staple for our times. We can all agree that the Sex & The City revival And Just Like That needs to be put out to pasture. To get you in the mood for Emily and her future faux pas(es), read a native French person’s perception of this lovable farce and see the [cliches that they get right] I can’t wait to see Rome (yes, spoiler intended).

The Old Man (Season 2) on Hulu, a spy thriller starring Jeff Bridges is officially back. Catch up on Season 1 with [my post from 2022].

Still Watching* :

• Only Murders in the Building (Season 4) on Hulu just gets better and better. This past week’s episode brought back “Perfect Strangers,” that wonderfully strange and wildly un-PC iconic ‘80s show about the “Odd Couple” roommate misadventures of a Borat-like immigrant, Balky (Bronson Pinchot) and his “straight man” Chicago cousin (Mark-Linn Baker). The theme song is one of the greatest of all time. Ham radios and a pig named “Hammy Faye Baker” are in the mix for this season too, so here’s to more “P” coincidences.

• Industry (Season 3) on Max. So many are watching this Succession-energy show taking place in a London financial services firm, that it’s in the zeitgeist. Episode 4 was a bit woo-woo with Rishi’s Robert Downey Jr. Less than Zero behaviour, but episode 5 upped the ante even more.

• Bad Monkey on Apple TV+. Yup, still watching. It’s a low-key commitment and passes the time, but the appeal has dramatically waned. I’m wondering if it’s the fatigue in hearing Vince Vaughn’s Yancy wax on and on about seemingly clever but mostly gnawing mindless, sarcastic stuff. The show needs to end.

*in preferential order

Haven’t Yet Started:

Slow Horses on Apple TV+, the addictive spy thriller, now in its 4th season, is out there, waiting for me to watch and I will once Bad Monkey is over.

❄👸 Nicole Kidman Knows Best Something about Perfection

🧀 No cheese was spoiled in the production of the following content🧀

The Perfect Couple on Netflix [Trailer], a 6-episode dramedy with an all-star cast who 15 years ago, pre-Prestige TV and the streamer landscape would never have touched this stinky-ish Netflix production, currently ranks #1 on the platform. It’s is an adaptation of the best-selling Elin Hilderbrand book about a wealthier-than-God (think this is a quote from the show) family living in Nantucket, the Winburys.

Blues, pinks and yellows. Did Lilly Pulitzer puke all of this Cape Cod style home? Yes, Yes she did Dakota Fanning, in one of many burn phrases used in the show by her character, Abby.

Greer (Kidman) is the matriarch of the family and beneath her icy, frozen stares at the ocean, beats a sly self-made woman who is propping this family up (3 sons and their SOs), and allowing them to live with a ridiculously unhealthy and unchecked amount of privilege by virtue of her illustrious writing career. She writes crime books, featuring a loving couple, modeled after her marriage. Some might even say, “the perfect couple” - a facade she keeps intact along with her philandering husband, Tag (Liev Schreiber) who has a penchant for karaoking Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.” Unfortunately for this show, the name “Tag” isn’t even the most offensive thing about it. There’s an Indian alleged bad guy running arms or Middle East heroin operations named “Shooter” (It’s ok though because we all call him “Skooter” or “Skeeter”). Such are the myths and misconceptions in this show and yet, I couldn’t quit this show if I tried. I was hooked.

Someone is murdered at the wedding weekend for Greer’s middle son Benji, who is engaged to a “normie” called Amelia, who spends most of the show judging the wealth, and protesting she’s not “one of them,” but then slipping in and out of her swimsuit in her fiance’s infinity pool like water isn’t scarce.

The script is BAD.

Exhibit A:

Amelia: I don’t really match here

Skooter: What makes someone match here?

Amelia: Money? Having it.

Caring about who else has it?

Exhibit B:

Tom (the oldest brother and a douche on eating his brother’s wedding cake and getting messy): “Shove it up my ass daddy”

Abby, Tom’s wife and a bad ass: “Ok stop. This [her dress] is vintage.”

What makes this show especially unnerving is its attempt to blend suspenseful whodunnit elements with jarring moments of humor. A prime example is the inexplicable flash mob Bollywood dance scene on the beach, set to Meghan Trainor's "Criminals," which appears intermittently as if to forcefully remind viewers that this is meant to be a FUNNY SHOW. Director Susanne Bier, who previously collaborated with Kidman previously on the HBO thriller The Undoing, expressed her intention to create a humorously surreal look at life. While this concept has potential, the execution of scenes like the beach dance falls flat, leaving one hoping for an SNL parody in their season opener. [See the video] PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! (sung to the tune of Sabrina Carpenter’s hit)

In Summary: Watch this show. It’s entertaining and awful, but like greasy Chinese, it hits the proverbial spot.

My Fan Letter Intervention: Nicole Kidman

Dear Nicole Kidman, 
I like you. I really do. On a personal level, while I don’t know you, all media points to you being a decent person, who cares deeply about her friends, is supportive of female directors, and aspiring talent (even if it means sometimes misguided tv and film choices). Your values are intact. Your actions speak to those values. I stood firmly in your camp with the whole Tom Cruise divorce because Scientology is weird and a cult. It couldn't have been easy for you to leave that institution and you did it, and rebuilt your career making solid moves. That speaks to character and strength. 

I'm not crazy about women putting a ton of chemicals in their face (or bodies) in an endless bid to preserve youth and perma-freezing their expressions, but I can't imagine being in your Showbiz shoes either (those super high heels - no thank you) and living under the intense scrutiny and ridicule society inflicts on the fairer of the sexes. Heck, even in the lowly suburbs youth-chasing and weight loss quick fixes are rampant and you're in Hollywood! So I'm casting judgement to the side here because it's business.  I just get sad sometimes that I don't get to see you aging "naturally" - like I think that would have been a beautiful thing to witness. 
 
My favorite film of yours has always been "The Others."*Maybe it was the emancipation from Tom Cruise that led you down this path of nuanced performance, but watching you play an incredibly complex and deeply unaware character (who would have been easy to villainize) with so much empathy and compassion made me see you in a new way and I was riveted. I continued to be captivated by performances in films like "Dogville" and "Rabbit Hole." Even on the small screen, you dramatically honed your chops in "Big Little Lies" showing us that domestic abuse isn't a "poor person's problem." It's something that can happen to anyone, even seemingly strong self-assured powerhouse lawyers. It was bold and different.

Where some of my beef is with your choices of late, is with shows that portray you as the one-dimensional fem-bot ice queen / wealthy woman. Not a hair out of place, posing in every scene with taut posture, and oh, so cold to everyone, because you're meant to be frigid and miserable. And life's been a bitch. Boo. Can we not recreate "The Stepford Wives" character parody? The movie was painful enough. 

Besides, you're better than this. 

"The Perfect Couple" saw a redemption story but it was late coming. "Expats" made me want to claw my eyes out and self-flagellate. "Nine Perfects Strangers" (again with the "perfects"!) - What even was that? "The Undoing" made me hate Hugh Grant more than you, so there's what, but also had me wishing you were savvier because you were so easily duped by that turd. Still, of all the recent performances, it was the best. That's sorta sad.

Maybe this is on me. My perspective. Maybe it's unfair of me not to let you just live your best TV life on Netflix, Prime and Max and collect a paycheck, but damnit you're better than this. I can't bear to watch you diminish yourself. Don't do a reboot of "The Others" (PLEASE) but find your post-Tom Cruise emancipation moment- reclaim it. Sure, support the fledgling newbie director or auteur here or there (that's part of your brand), but once a year give us something we can root for so we can stop having to root through our dusty brain shelves looking for a film from 22 years ago.

Sincerely, 
Beth L (of Beth's TV & Film Recommendations Substack), a middle-aged woman with dusty brain shelves, sporting too much weight, and at least crow's feet

*It was "Far & Away" first but then was surpassed by "The Others"

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🔍 The Other “P” Show You Don’t Know About

By now, you know from [last week’s post my Golum-like ring obsession with secret shows], so here’s another show to add to that list.

Pachinko (2 seasons on Apple TV+) [Trailer] follows a Korean woman's migration to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The production is impressive, featuring trilingual dialogue in Korean, Japanese, and English, and spans 40 years and four generations of family history, highlighting the ongoing prejudice faced by Koreans. I read the book first, but regardless, it's a stunning reimagining of a beautiful story that captures the essence of the original.

Bonus: Every scene with Jin Ha, who plays Solomon, the grandson of the main protagonist, is well acted, subtle and evokes the pain of an ambitious man who is also living as a second-class citizen, and not in a meritocracy.

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🕵️ Miscellaneous Spooky Scaries

True Crime Limited Series: Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter - Not generally my genre, but this one is gripping. It tells the story of Aundria Bowman who disappeared in 1989 in Michigan at the age of 14, and her biological mother’s quest for justice. Having spent my college years and childhood summers in Michigan, and the time period being “close enough” to this timeline, I felt this one in my bones. Charlize Theron serves as the Executive Producer and this one is well worth the 3 hours of your time. Trigger warnings: Sexual assault, child molestation, and murder. This is not for the faint of heart. Also, there’s a special place in Hell for this type of criminal.

Book Series Recommendation: “The Naturals” by "The Inheritance Games” author Jennifer Lynn Barnes. For when you tire of “P” shows, this series is perfect for fans of classic mysteries and suspenseful plots involving old enough-to-be-interesting teen characters. Cassie and Avery (from “The Inheritance Games”) are basically the same protagonist characters (brilliant, awkward, somewhat guarded, secretly beautiful) whose growth journey includes getting to know themselves first and making plenty of high-stakes decisions and mistakes.

Newest “Recommendations” Substack I’m Fanning Over:

Things that make me Happy!:

Sara H

’s use of tiles for her recommendations (Credit: Inspo for “The Naturals” layout from Sara) but all her stuff is so good :)

Someone Who Gets Ps: “Did you ever notice that a lot of words that some people find uncomfortable, negative, risqué, or unpleasant begin with the letter “p”?“

Denise Shelton

did. [For more thoughts on this, check out this note]

A Substacker Who is Bringing Back the John Krasinski Covid Craze of “Good News”:

BONUS BETH Film Stuff

JOIN my October film club where we’ll be watching and chatting about these romance films via chat. BUT FIRST, please make sure to upgrade your membership. This club will only be available to paid subscribers.

Upgrading allows me to spend more of my day creating these posts and consuming even more content.

❗DOUBLE BONUS: Last Saturday, I attended a Kacey Musgraves musical “live show” [thanks

Dino Corvino

and this post for using the right terminology!] and captured images and music from the Boston performance.

Kacey Musgraves' "Deeper Well" - A Musical Scrapbook

“P” in Phoebe Bridgers’ Motion Sickness:

Have you ever had “emotional motion sickness”? For me, it’s like heartburn on the daily. God, I love this song. Give it a listen.

Let’s Discuss

• Has anyone created a wordmark for their Substack (Found in Settings under “publication theme” in “branding”)? It’s the logo that’s in the header of your website page center aligned. I can’t figure out the proper scaling to make it bigger and I’ve tried and retried based on instructions. Curious to see if anyone has achieved WORDMARK bliss and any tips you may have. I’d be grateful.

• What’s your “good news” go-to Substack or publication? Do you have one? You should.

• Have you watched Kidman in recent shows? Which ones?

• Ps coming up in your world too? What are P words that resonate?

• Anyone else dig Phoebe Bridgers?