What I'm watching & listening to: 4/1/23

Been reading my way through most of the of YA "The Inheritance Games" series, so TV and music have taken a back seat this week. That said, the ones recommended here are good, really good.

2 Shows

The Big Door Prize on Apple TV+

Good for fans of: Severance, Stephen King, Hello Tomorrow! / Out of: U.S.

According to Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, anxiety preceded original sin. Before Adam or Eve made the decision to bite into the apple and consequently forge their own destinies and damn innocence, anxiety was out there in the very act of them waffling with their decision, its outcome, and experiencing the discomfort and unease that came with all this. All of “this” had cosmic consequences, of course, forever etched in the narrative of world religion.

Well into the first episode of The Big Door Prize, Dusty (Chris O’Dowd), a teacher and whistler, struggles with a new machine that has mysteriously appeared in the general store of the small, nondescript town in which he lives. This machine, appropriately called Morpho features a butterfly logo (a nod to its acting as an agent of metamorphosis) predicts people’s life potential and its very existence invokes panic in Dusty, a very “by the book” type of dude who sees his life in 2 chapters - his time in Ireland with his mom being the first part and when his mom moved them over to America, the second.

Challenged by his adverse attitude towards change, and the growing hype of other townspeople readily getting their life potential cards via the Morpho machine, Dusty speaks to the town’s philosopher priest (great performance by Damon Gupton) who utilizes the power of Kierkegaard, challenging Dusty to think of his life in multiple chapters; to accept and embrace the journey of life, its volatility and unknowns, and to understand and name his own anxiety in the face of this. Dusty is incapable of self-awareness and while he appears on the surface to be happily married to Cass, his high school sweetheart, he knows he’s punched way above his weight with her and his self-doubt is in itself its own character here, in the marriage. Cass is similarly dishonest with Dusty and her mom, simply because anything that threatens the status quo, threatens her stability.

Each episode focuses on a different character in the town of Deerfield. So far, Apple TV+ has released 3 episodes. Dusty, his wife, Cass (Gabrielle Dennis), and Jacob (Sammy Fourlas), a student at the school Dusty teaches at, are featured in the first few episodes, where each character sees their life potential revealed. A new episode drops on Wednesday. Thankful for this, since Shrinking season finale left me with a big gaping hole in my Apple TV+ lineup that Ted Lasso hasn’t quite filled.

Lucky Hank on AMC

Good for fans of: Better Call Saul, The Chair, Breaking Bad/ Out of: U.S.

An English professor and tenured chair at a fictional mediocre liberal arts college in PA, Hank Devereaux (lovable Bob Odenkirk) is in mid-life crisis mode. He once wrote a really good book for which he got some acclaim early in his career, following in the shadow of his dad, a famous writer, whom he’s been estranged from for decades. This relationship haunts him. Now Hank’s feeling stuck. He teaches to get by and provide a life of constancy and security for his family, wife Lily (Mireille Enos, The Killing), an assistant principal, and his now grown daughter, whose misadventures in business idea-of-the-week with her husband provide a form of steady comic relief as Hank tries to avoid their pleas for money (even escaping from his own house via a back door). Hank admits that as a parent, he and Lily, like many parents of their generation, tried so hard to shield their children from pain that as a result they don’t know how to “tough it out.” And yet, he doesn’t want to deal with it.

In the first 10 minutes of the first episode, arguably the show’s strongest so far (and I’ve watched two), Hank goes head to head with an entitled and arrogant student, Bartow (Jackson Kelly), who pleads with him to give him constructive feedback on his writing. The writing, which Hank calls out for using telepathic discussions and necrophilia, as devices to distance itself from reader, is hard to follow.

But apart from this, Hank, who is not paying attention to Bartow’s reading, is rattling off his lunch salad ingredients in his mind, before one of the ingredients slips out loud. This is the undoing of him. Hank resists the need to give criticism, likely aware of the vitriol it will unleash until he’s egged on by the students, but he finally relents because he’s had it. Let’s just say “mediocre” comes up and Hank’s rather harsh monologue is recorded via video by one of the students, and voila, from there cancel culture. Texts come flooding in from Hank’s colleague, his chair-ship comes in jeopardy and damage control by the Dean (Oscar, The Office) is the top priority.

Of course Hank shouldn’t have been honest with Bartow, nor should he ever be fully honest, as Lily admonishes him, but Bartow’s feeling that Hank owes him something and should believe in him just because also calls into question the role of teacher and if it’s solely their job to build this confidence at all costs, at the lost of something more substantial and deeper. Hank, is a classic grumpy guy who wants to live his newfound truth, but finds it difficult.

For fans of the Netflix Sandra Oh show from a few years back, The Chair, this one will be a good option.

+ 1 Song

I’m listening to this one on repeat, a lot. As my daughter likes to remind me, because this happened with “All Too Well,” at some point I will burn out on the song and it will remain in the TS Vault forever, but in the meantime, here it is.

From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes

I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this

I hosted parties and starved my body

Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss

The jokes weren't funny, I took the money

My friends from home don't know what to say

I looked around in a blood-soaked gown

And I saw something they can't take away

'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned

Everything you lose is a step you take

So make the friendship bracelets

Take the moment and taste it

You've got no reason to be afraid