FARGO Goes Back On Its Return

 Article first published as TV Review: FARGO Season 4 on Seat42F.

After a more-than-three-year drought, FARGO returns to FX for a fourth season. The latest installment in the anthology drama goes back to 1950 and is set in Kansas City, an oft-mentioned place in previous seasons, though not explored all that deeply. The story centers around two rival gangs, one African-American, one Italian, both considered minorities by the rest of the locals, as they try to gain control of illegal activity in the area.

As usual, FARGO’s season is in no hurry to get started, though the fourth season premiere provides quite a bit more historical exposition than previous openers. This may or may not be necessary, we’ll see as the rest of the run unfolds, but really sets up context for where this gang war comes from and how it might play out. Having glimpsed what the dominant faction becomes decades in the future, viewers will feel plenty prepared to get going by the time the title makes its appearance, about a third of the way into the premiere.

The gangs are stocked with plenty of familiar faces, as well as a few less so, as is FARGO’s custom, introducing us to new, terrific performers alongside talented veterans. Comedian Chris Rock (Saturday Night Live) heads one side as Loy Cannon, a family man whose people are not going to be pushed around anymore, and has ideas for legitimate business success if only a funder would take a chance on him. On the other side is Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman, Bored to Death), son of the long-time ruler who, at first glance, appears to be unable to live up to his father’s legacy, though he likely will surprise us. Standing out among the rest are Ben Whishaw (No Time to Die) as an Irishman who works for the Italians and Glynn Turman (House of Lies) as Loy’s elder advisor.

While gangsters are a staple of FARGO, three other types of characters usually make up the universe, as well. There’s the hapless person who sees themselves as good, but gets roped into the evil. This seems likely to be filled by mortician Thurman Smutny (musician Andrew Bird), though his daughter, Ethelrida (E'myri Crutchfield, The Kicks), has a larger part thus far, a rarity for a minor in the franchise. Second is the kooky weirdo, which is brillianty filled here with Nurse Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley, Chernobyl). And third is the noble member of law enforcement, which is completely absent from episodes one and two, though Marshall Deafy (Timothy Olyphant, Justified) may take up that mantle in the third hour.

By leaving out the cop, the fourth season of FARGO feels drastically different. The closest thing we have to a hero at the start is Ethelrida, but she’s not taking an active role in anything, and certainly won’t be solving any big cases. Funny that in a period piece, it’s this missing element that stands out more than sets or costumes as moving FARGO in a different direction.

I love the FARGO formula, and adored the first three seasons. I’m not sure it needed a shakeup, but perhaps creator Noah Hawley disagreed, as they really did follow the same pattern (delightfully) thrice. However, given the quality delivered previously, I’m excited to see what they’ve come up with this for the senior round, and hope for more in the future.

Only two and a half hours in (I plan to watch more as soon as possible), I am digging the differences and the tale unfolding. There are lots of interesting personalities, and while one major arc may be clear, there are undoubtedly many others slowly simmering that haven’t fully revealed themselves yet. The ending is only sort of known, given this year’s general tie-ins to other seasons, and it should be a fun ride.

FARGO returns Sunday, September 27th on FX and streaming the next day on Hulu.

RICK & MORTY: SEASON 4 Blu-ray Review

 Article first published as RICK AND MORTY: SEASON 4 BLU-RAY REVIEW on Seat42F.

RICK AND MORTY: SEASON 4 has arrived! On Blu-ray and digital, that is, having aired a split season this past November/December and May. All ten episodes are part of the set, as well as roughly forty minutes of bonus features. Blu-ray purchases come with a digital code, and will be available on September 22nd.

The fourth season, which marks the start of a seven-season pick-up, gets weird, and that’s saying something for a show known to be weird. The writers have gotten very comfortable with pushing their bounds, and so now the weird seems more purposeful and thought out. Though it’s still extremely weird.

Perhaps the best example of that is the snake planet in “Rattlesnake Ricklactica.” There’s a time travel component, as well as parallel Earth history, as a world made up entirely of sentient snakes ventures out into the galaxy for the first time, and Morty (Justin Roiland) nearly ruins their evolutionary course. Then his grandfather and traveling companion, Rick (also Roiland), does ruin it for real in a delightful story that is part classic Star Trek, part Terminator, part a lot of other things, and gifts the world the musical stylings Snake Jazz.

The episode is far from alone in RICK AND MORTY: SEASON 4. Morty learns lessons about consequences and knowing the future. He also learns the follies of owning a dragon (Liam Cunningham, Game of Thrones). Rick has to fight to keep his personal toilet safe from an alien named Tony (Jeffrey Wright, Westworld). A story train plays with continuity and anthology, while a heist adventure gets meta times meta plus a bit more meta in a convoluted story knot that somehow kind of makes sense. “The Vat of Acid Episode” plays on an 80s trope, and so much more. Morty’s sister, Summer (Spencer Grammar), becomes ruler of a society. Morty’s father, Jerry (Chris Parnell), does, too, with predictably disastrous results. And matriarch Beth (Sarah Chalke) has to face what her father would like her to be.

That last hints just how much into the family drama and emotional heft RICKY AND MORTY: SEASON 4 can get. It’s a silly comedy, to be sure, but as the various personalities become more well-developed, more and more of the stories are driven by the relationships between characters. This is welcome and shows an appreciated maturation.

Other guest stars this year include Sherri Shepherd (30 Rock), Kathleen Turner (Body Heat), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Matthew Broderick (The Producers), Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Justin Theroux (The Leftovers), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), and even inventor Elon Musk, among others. It’s an eclectic group, and one wonders why anyone would ever turn down a chance to be part of the show.

The special features are light and varied. The best one is probably the longest, a nearly-ten-minute look behind-the-scenes of the show as the crew finishes season 4 and begins season 5 simultaneously. It’s very easy, in a show as action-packed and fast-moving as RICK AND MORTY: SEASON 4, to just focus on the main threads and ignore the background. That feature, along with shorter focuses on a few individuals and parts of the process, help remind audiences just how much work goes into each episode. The sheer number of backgrounds and extra characters is mind-boggling, something other animated series don’t even come close to achieving, and will give greater understanding of what it takes to make a show this complex and good. Short bits on each episode are interesting, though not particularly eye-opening.

RICK AND MORTY is a solid show, and SEASON 4 continues this proud tradition. I look forward very much to at least six more years of a series, especially if it keeps building upon what it has done so far. Which is a lot.

DEPARTURE For Peacock

Article published as TV Review: DEPARTURE on Seat42F.

The British-Canadian drama DEPARTURE is coming to Peacock’s streaming service on September 17th. The six-episode drama, which previously aired in other countries last year, follows the investigation into an airplane that disappeared over the ocean. What took it down and why are just a couple of the questions the team must answer as they try to figure out what happened so that it cannot happen again.

The cast is excellent, led by Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) and Christopher Plummer (Lord of the Rings, Beginners). They really sell the story of DEPARTURE, and there are many wonderful moments of acting in it.

Panjabi plays Kendra Malley in DEPARTURE, a brilliant investigator who sidelined herself after a car accident claimed the life of her husband. While she has been staying home and trying to help stepson, AJ (Alexandre Bourgeois, Demain Des Hommes), try to cope, it’s clear the two haven’t exactly bonded, quite possibly because of Kendra’s lack of communication. So that could be why she accepts her mentor, Howard Lawson’s (Plummer), offer to take a high-profile case.

Not everyone is happy to see Kendra back at work, least of all Dom (Kris Holden-Ried, The Umbrella Academy), who would be leading things if she stayed home. But the entire team, including Levi Hall (Peter Mensah, Midnight, Texas), Nadia (Tamara Duarte, Wyonna Earp), and MI-5 ‘spy’ Janet Friel (Claire Forlani, Camelot), are happy to help unlock the mystery and find the truth.

They have quite a few leads to go on, most notably involving Madelyn Strong (Rebecca Liddiard, Frankie Drake Mysteries), a passenger on the plane. Her fiancé, Ali (Shazad Latif, Star Trek: Discovery), is an early suspect. Then there’s Pavel Bartok (Sasha Roiz, Grimm), an executive who might have evil intentions. But this is not an easily-explained event, and there are sure to be more than a few twists and turns along the way if the two hours I viewed are any indication.

Despite all of the above being so promising, DEPARTURE isn’t all that great. It spends far too much time in the beginning on the airplane, which is the most spacious and luxurious aircraft I’ve ever seen, with wide aisles and lots of leg room. Besides the ridiculousness of the design in terms of realism to modern flyers, the lack of notable, recognizable performers on the craft make it feel like a slow start of a low-budget production. Immediately, Lost and its less-successful wannabe copycats spring to mind, and DEPARTURE is never going to live up to that comparison, so it’s not exactly a good start.

Much of the rest of the drama backs that up. Great actors are wasted on DEPARTURE’s mediocre story, which feels a lot like any British or Canadian crime drama, though less believable than most. Some twists are obvious from a mile away and the writing feels formulaic. The opening scenes waste what could be a cool aircraft element, and lackluster special effects fail to deliver on the visual expectations. Panjabi, Plummer, and the rest are much better than the material they’re given, so despite them elevating the level of writing, it just doesn’t ever rise to something that needs to be viewed in its entirety. Which is saying something, given what a small commitment it would be to finish the season.

This is extremely disappointing. Yes, right now American networks are running out of fresh programming to fill their airwaves and streams because of the pandemic. And lots of them are borrowing from foreign productions to fill that gap, which is overall a positive, as Americans really should watch more non-American television. But DEPARTURE is just not that good, and it’s hard to believe Peacock couldn’t do better than this.

DEPARTURE begins streaming on Peacock Thursday, September 17th.

Fly AWAY

Article first published as TV Review: AWAY on Seat42F.

This weekend, Netflix released AWAY, a drama revolving around the first manned mission to Mars. A five-person, internationally diverse crew is sent on the trip, and problems, both the personal and the technical, plague them. Back on Earth, the supporting characters have their own challenges, while being called upon to help the travelers from a great distance.

It isn’t clear what time period AWAY is set in. From all appearances, it’s today, with no notable technological advancements in television, cell phones, or other everyday objects. Yet, there is some serious technology available for a moon base and Mars mission, and inexplicably those in space can pull out their phones and talk to people on Earth whenever they want, which seems extremely advanced and far from what we have now. So I’m left assuming this must be some sort of alternate dimension from our own, where technology evolved a little differently, though that isn’t made clear.

This isn’t the only thing AWAY can’t seem to decide. Sometimes it’s an astronaut- (and other terms for the other team members) fueled action adventure, with disaster lurking. Other times, it’s a family and co-worker drama, with personal issues coming front-and-center. Sometimes it seems to be a tale of international cooperation, while at others, it’s an illustration of how different various cultures can be. AWAY is a lot of things, which isn’t in of itself a bad thing, except they seem so disjointed that it feels unfinished or not a purposeful choice.

I started off knocking the series, so I should say, despite those flaws, I am enjoying it after three episodes. There are some interesting issues raised and plot points explored. I am glad that AWAY is not afraid to linger on long scenes when the story calls for it, but not jam such in unnecessarily for arguments or calls home. The direction is solid and the production looks amazing, with movie-quality special effects and sequences.

The cast is also terrific. I’m not a big Hilary Swank fan in general, but the Million Dollar Baby does a great job with the part of Emma Green, captain of the mission and lead of the series. The pressure Emma is under in a job where she will never please anyone is easy to relate to, and the stress it puts her under is very understandable. Her husband is played by The Good Wife’s Josh Charles, and his struggle after a stroke is engaging to watch. Their daughter, Alexis (Talitha Eliana Bateman, Annabelle: Creation), is also quite an interesting character, well performed, though her scenes often feel the most stuffed-in.

The rest of the crew are played by Vivian Wu (The Last Emperor), Ato Essandoh (Chicago Med), Ray Panthaki (Marcella), and Mark Ivanir (The New Pope), and each do an admirable job. Their characters are complex and layered, and I’m glad AWAY is getting around to revealing a lot about each, one per episode, as the story unfolds. I find their portions more compelling than Emma and her family, even though I like both halves.

AWAY presents an intriguing tale with well-developed players and looks fantastic. If it could lock in just a little more on some of the details, such as what it wants to be exactly, it could be pretty darn good. I don’t think it’ll be one of those cultural touchstones that everyone talks about or rated must-binge. Nor should it be binged, as the episodes are at-times dense and should be allowed to rest before jumping into the next. Yet, I think most people that do check it out will probably be satisfied with the drama shown. I am, and I think it quite likely I’ll finish the entire season in a week or two.

The first season of AWAY is available on Netflix now.

Get WOKE

Article first published as TV Review: WOKE on Seat42F.

Premiering on Hulu next week is WOKE. The dramedy follows cartoonist Keef Knight, whose career is just about take off when he finds himself pushed into becoming a social justice warrior. That is exactly the opposite personality from the one Keef has carefully crafted his entire life, determined to blend in with white people and not make waves or be the slightest bit controversial. But after a traumatic run-in with the police, he begins hallucinating talking objects who won’t leave him alone until he finally speaks his mind – very loudly and publicly.

Lest you think this is one of those dumb, weird comedies about a man going crazy, WOKE is not that. The talking objects are never more present than they are at the beginning, later used sparingly and with care, not a constant gag that you have to struggle through if you’re not into it. WOKE is much more focused on the emotional and mental turmoil that Keef is experiencing as he tries to pull himself out of the hole he digs into and find a new normal. This series was so compelling,  I couldn’t stop until I’d blazed through all right episodes in a single day.

Lamorne Morris, best known as goofy sidekick Winston in New Girl, shines as Keef in WOKE, perfectly balancing an everyman quality with someone who can be serious and inspiring. He carriers this show on his back, as its almost entirely from his perspective, and he does it with excellence. I hope this show runs for many years because I can’t wait to see him play more of this character, or any character, really, after this.

He is supported by an amazing and varied ensemble, all there for how they relate to Keef, but complex characters on their own. Keef’s roommates are Clovis (comedian and writer T. Muph) and Gunther (Blake Anderson, Workaholics). Gunther is the super-woke white guy who seems to fight more for racial justice than the Black characters that surround him, even at times telling them how to act concerning sensitive issues. Yet, he stops short of being too annoying and patronizing, and displays a huge heart at all times. Clovis, meanwhile, is a player who lies to women constantly, and yet is somewhat good to his friends. One wonders what his backstory is that has made him this way, as his charm makes him difficult to hate, even as his actions are despicable.

Sasheer Zamata (Saturday Night Live) is introduced as a journalist who has strong morals, though further episodes reveal just how far from perfectly noble she is. Rose McIver (iZombie) is Keef’s fellow artist love interest, and they struggle with their interracial relationship and personal drama as they come together during a very disruptive time for Keef.

The subject matter is timely, though definitely written before recent events. Still, the conversation is more than relevant. Who really needs to watch this show is the Blue Lives Matter crowd. This will humanize the other side of the debate in a way that is badly needed in this hyper-partisan time, and in the tradition of great television shows, will foster understanding. But who is more likely to watch it are those already in support of Black Lives Matter and the series will preach to the crowd.

Apart from that, though, WOKE is an extremely well-made series, no matter what issues its tackling. It has terrific characters, is beautifully set in San Francisco, and expertly balances itself well between smart writing and really funny stuff, simultaneously being a true exploration of society at large and individual personalities, shining a light on so much that needs it. A koala subsplot is particularly insightful, in my opinion. This show is excellent, and season two can’t come soon enough.

WOKE premieres on Hulu on September 9th.