‘Slow Horses: Season Four’ Subverts the Spy Genre
The good, the bad, and the ugly dance to Slow Horses‘ strange game, which reminds viewers that solidarity is essential to fighting oppression.
Television
When the 1950s Met the 1960s via LSD TV
These eight TV episodes illustrate what happened when the 1950s met the 1960s via LSD TV, leading to moments of confusion and irony, often with comical results.
Rom-Communism: ‘Ted Lasso’ and the Future of the Romantic Comedy
As polarization impacts the cultural landscape, rom-coms like Ted Lasso show how we can work through our differences and disagreements to everyone’s satisfaction.
The Top 10 Episodes of ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’
For this Halloween, we invite you to join us in revisiting ten classic, creepy Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. First, turn off the lights.
Deadwood’s Moral Optimism
Individualism was not the dominant force on the American frontier, as most Westerns would have you believe. Deadwood explores the era’s cooperation and moral optimism.
‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy
In adapting the alternative history The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins and his crew made cinema – a medium with origins in white supremacy – work for them.
‘The Boys’ Season 4 Is a Bloody Descent into Hell
Erik Kripke’s gory superhero satire The Boys takes a visceral plunge into political and personal tragedy, showing there’s more to fear than just corrupt superheroes.
Crime Sells in TV: ‘The Responder’, ‘Shardlake’, and ‘Eric’
For compelling and worrisome reasons, crime sells in our TV entertainment. The Responder, Shardlake, and Eric feed our brutal compulsion in varying ways.
‘World of Giants’ Is Cold War Sci-Fi Espionage with a Small Difference
World of Giants is catnip and dog-nip and gopher-nip for connoisseurs of classic sci-fi TV ’50s style, aka, the art of really short half-hour storytelling.
They Tenderly Scream “Camp” and We Lovingly Scream Back
The Traitors head-band wearing Parvati Shallow and Barbie‘s head-shaking Ryan Gosling tenderly scream “camp” and enthralled, we lovingly scream back.
21 Beacon Street’s Impossible Missions
In 13 episodes, lost TV wonder 21 Beacon Street is an uncanny and legally actionable precursor to the Mission Impossible franchise.
‘The Sympathizer’ Fractures Identity into a Knockout Kaleidoscopic Tale
The mini-series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s kaleidoscopic tale The Sympathizer is a knockout account of colonialism, war, and (the loss of) identity.