New Look for PERRY MASON

Article first published as TV Review: PERRY MASON on Seat42F.

HBO brought back a beloved character of literature, radio, and television this week with their new PERRY MASON show. This is a prequel story, set before the titular man becomes the defense attorney he’s been portrayed as in the past. Set in Los Angeles 1932 during the Great Depression, Perry is a noir private eye working for a lawyer and taking care of his family farm, which he should probably unload, given it boasts a mere two milk cows and is at an airport. How does the drunk absentee lawyer become a hero in the court room? Keep watching to find out.

Matthew Rhys (The Americans) stars as Perry Mason. Rhys is an extremely talented actor, as many already know. His performance in this is as impressive as it customary for him. There’s plenty to sink his teeth into for this role, as Perry is deeply troubled, mostly legitimately. His entire past isn’t revealed right away, so there are still some unanswered questions, such as why did he leave the military dishonorably? But the things we can see make him as sympathetic as he is tortured, so substantially.

Rhys is surrounded by other fine performers. John Lithgow (The Crown) is a lawyer Perry is working for named Elias Bichard Jonathan. Juliet Rylance (The Knick) is Jonathan’s more-than-capable assistant, Della Street. Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) is Pete Strickland, Perry’s co-hort. Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) doesn’t show up in the premiere, but is playing a religious leader named Sister Alice that promises to be compelling. Chis Chalk (Gotham) is similarly absent from the pilot, but will be a good cop among the bad. Plus, Nate Corddry (Mom), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), Eric Lange (Lost), and a slew of less recognizable, but no less skilled, actors join them in smaller roles.

The design, costumes, and sets are no less impressive. Every item of clothing, prop, and vehicle is beautifully recreated and sets the scene brilliantly, though we should expect no less from a big budget production like PERRY MASON. In particular in the pilot, the original Angels Flight train is recreated in its previous location. This is noir, but realistic looking noir.

As good as everything looks, a lot of the characters are total scum of the Earth. The cops we see are like a gang, more interested in lining their pockets than protecting and serving. The Hollywood execs aren’t any better, trash looking after trash with violence and threats. There are good people in this world, like Perry Mason, and they can even thrive without doing too many bad things. But they do have to exist in the muck alongside the worst of humanity, and that informs their characters, making the whole piece rather depressing.

This is where fans of the old PERRY MASON may have an issue with the new version. The old Perry was a shining beacon, while this one isn’t separate from the baddies. They are often the people he works with and for.

The biggest obstacle, though, might be just how disturbing some of the visuals can be. I’m no stranger to violence and gore, and who can be in today’s prestige television landscape? But PERRY MASON finds new depths in a single hour. A dead baby, rendered in stomach-churning detail, is only briefly on screen, and yet it feels like too long. I won’t go into anything further, but if child violence is a trigger for you, steer clear of this show. And even if it isn’t, it’s extremely hard not to be affected by its portrayal here.

Is the world ready for a gritty PERRY MASON? Will subsequent seasons grow him into someone a bit cleaner, or is this destined to be a one-off miniseries experiment? Either way, it’s a very well-made, well-acted series, and unless they do worse than the baby, I’ll be tuning in to see how it turns out.

PERRY MASON airs Sundays at 9PM on HBO.

HOMECOMING Dance

Article first published as TV Review: HOMECOMING on Seat42F.

One might think it would take a unique series to lure Julia Roberts to the small screen. While crossing over from film to television is anything but uncommon these days, there are still some stars that seem too big to make the move. Well, Amazon’s HOMECOMING is definitely unique. And if you’ve forgotten just how good Roberts is, this series will remind you of that.

Roberts stars as Heidi Bergman, an administrator and counselor at Homecoming, a facility to help soldiers reintegrate into society after traumatic active duty. Heidi truly seems to want to help, though she has to balance that desire with the strict, demanding instructions of her boss, Colin Belfast (Bobby Cannavale, Ant-Man). We learn early on that whatever she intends doesn’t pan out, and four years later, she’s working as a waitress. But why? What happened?

HOMECOMING is a twisty, suspenseful tale. Most of the plot is set at the facility in 2018, with the 2022 flashforwards making up only a few minutes of each episode. The tone is that of an old Kubrick or Hitchcock drama, with bizarre directing shots to match. It feels out of time in sort of a semi-reality where you can’t trust anything you see. The paranoia is purposeful and not unique to the viewer, as at least a couple of characters share it, too. The closest thing I can compare it to on the modern landscape is Mr. Robot, which makes sense because it has the same creator, Sam Esmail. The mystery plays out slowly in a way that begs to be binged. Thankfully, Amazon dropped all ten episodes of season one at once (though I’ve only had time to view three so far).

The cast around Roberts is every bit as good as she is, pulling together a remarkable ensemble. Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) is Thomas Carrasco, the man following up on a complaint about the facility in 2022, and gently nudging the spilling of secrets. Sissy Spacek (Bloodline) is Heidi’s mother, Ellen, who tells her daughter she’s lying to herself. Alex Karpovsky (Girls) is an employee at Homecoming. Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding) is Heidi’s boyfriend in 2018, pushed aside in favor of her work.

Then there are the patients themselves. Stephan James (Selma) plays Walter Cruz, the main patient we see and the subject of Carrasco’s inquiry. Walter seems well-adjusted, like he doesn’t belong in the program, but is happy to go along with things. He gets along well with Heidi, developing a camaraderie that is more intimate than I imagine most doctors and patients share (though completely chaste, at least three installments in).  Their bond is immediate and interesting.

The thing that interrupts Cruz’s peaceful stint is his loyalty to fellow soldier Joseph Shrier (Jeremy Allen White, Shameless). Shrier is suspect of everything Cruz takes for granted, insisting that they aren’t even in Florida. Shrier is painted as the crazy man who is probably right, though only time will tell if he’s close to the truth. More importantly, he complicates Cruz’s tenure and treatment, keeping the story quite colorful.

HOMECOMING is based off of a scripted podcast by Gimlet Media starring Catherine Keener as Heidi. Which may explain why the episodes are less than half an hour each, despite being far more drama than comedy. And it’s probably the best adaptation of a podcast I’ve seen. It takes the best elements of that format, and even without having listened (yet, though I definitely will), I can see what parts have been carried over. However, it isn’t distracting as the show also makes full use of the visual medium, seamlessly blending the two in a beautiful, near-perfect marriage.

(Disclosure: I am the creator / head writer of a long-running, scripted, serialized comedy podcast called It’s All Been Done Radio Hour, so I might be a bit more enamored with the medium than most.)

I love HOMECOMING. I think it’s a stellar effort, well done on every level, and the perfect vehicle for Roberts and the rest of the cast. Check out the whole first season on Amazon Prime streaming video.

Full Of VICE PRINCIPALS

Article first published as VICE PRINCIPALS Review on Seat42F.

I recently was asked to review HBO’s next comedy series, VICE PRINCIPALS. Set at a high school, the half hour weekly series follows two men who hold the job mentioned in the title of the show, and whom both want to move up to full-blown principal if given the opportunity. Of course, they are not given such a chance, and the laughs are supposed to come from their antics as they try and fail to reach that goal, sabotaging themselves as much as one another.

In case you couldn’t tell by the tone of the first paragraph, I did not enjoy VICE PRINCIPALS. Admittedly, I did not enjoy Eastbound & Down, either, which I assume is the closest series the network has had previously to this one. Both were created by Jody Hill (Observe and Report) and Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), and star McBride. Both feature an obnoxious lead that is hard to like, who does things that are rude to others. It’s not my cup of tea.

I say this right out front because humor, unlike drama, is very subjective, and there is clearly an audience for McBride’s work. And it’s not like that I don’t enjoy the actor; I liked him very much in This Is the End. I just don’t get his point of view in these series.

I also chafe at poor depictions of schools. As someone who has worked as an educator, it bums me out that, aside from dedicated pro-teacher movies like Dead Poets Society or Mr. Holland’s Opus, staff members in academia are often treated so poorly in television and film. The vast majority of those who dedicate their lives to helping children are committed to their work. The behavior of McBride’s character, Neal, would never, ever be tolerated in any institution I’ve been in, and he would be promptly fired long before he reached the point of vice principal. I know cop and medical shows aren’t portraying the reality of those jobs, either, but at least they aren’t so negative on the professions.

Besides that, there isn’t a lot I can point to that is valid criticism of the show. It is well constructed. There aren’t any easy plot holes to pick on in the pilot. The cast, which includes Justified’s Walton Goggins as Neal’s main rival, Cougartown’s Busy Philipps as Neal’s ex-wife, Boardwalk Empire’s Shea Whigham as her new man, The New Normal’s Georgina King as a teacher at the school, Devious Maids’ Kimberly Herbert Gregory as the new principal, and Know Thy Enemy’s Sheaun McKinney as a cafeteria worker, is great. The legendary Bill Murray (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Zombieland) even guest stars in the pilot! Technically, there’s nothing explicitly wrong with the show.

When I see fare like this, it makes me sad for the actors in it, hoping they can find better work soon. Or, selfishly, I’m sad for myself, missing seeing their talent as long as they dedicate their time to a project I’ll never watch when I’ve enjoyed them so much in the past. This is certainly the case with Goggins and Philipps, both of whom I adored in their last works. But if they’re happy and the show does well, then I guess that’s all that matter. Plus, it’s already been announced that VICE PRINCIPALS will only be a two-season show, so their tenure will be relatively brief.

So it will all come down to where you get your sense of humor. I find it hard to pigeonhole exactly what McBride’s is, other than it’s definitely his own. It isn’t overly gross or slapstick or witty or LOL-worthy. It’s just what he finds funny, and it’s good that he gets to represent it on television. I hope he finds his audience, though it clearly does not count me among them.

VICE PRINCIPALS premieres Sunday, July 17^th at 10:30/9:30c on HBO.

Meet AGENT CARTER

Article originally written for Seat42F.

MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER is Alias in the 1940s, so with a large dose of how women were treated in the first season of Mad Men. Set two years after the events of the main plot of Captain America: The First Avenger, SSR Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) has been relegated to a desk job that wastes her talents. But when Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) is accused of selling weapons to the nation’s enemies, he calls upon her to secretly investigate who stole his tech.

AGENT CARTER is not about the start of S.H.I.E.L.D., set prior to that organization’s founding, nor does it feature connections to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., at least not yet. Instead, the miniseries is its own thing, a self-contained mission seemingly designed to highlight Atwell’s talents and prove her worthiness to Stark, who certainly needs no further evidence. It’s not ground-moving to the Marvel universe, but it is enjoyable.

For those wondering about continuity, well, it works fine with Captain American, but not with the Marvel One-Shot, Agent Carter. In the One-Shot, which takes place one year after Captain America, thus one year prior to AGENT CARTER, she is rescued from obscurity by Howard to begin the organization Nick Fury will one day run. This hasn’t happened yet, and she’s still locked in the desk job, albeit with a different boss and co-workers than in that short. Toss out the One-Shot, or assume it happens at a later date, and all is well. Though, it’s a tad disappointing we don’t get to see Peggy traipsing the globe with Dum Dum Dugan and the Howling Commandos, picking up artifacts as glimpses in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this fall.

Taking AGENT CARTER on its own merits, I like it. It’s a new take on the detective / cop / spy story, with Carter having to work behind her superior’s backs because they don’t trust or believe in her. She has a sort-of bumbling male sidekick, Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy, Those Who Kill), and when she’s not working, she has a gal pal to hang around with, waitress Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca, Nikita). There is character development when someone Peggy is close to pays the cost of Carter’s activities. Peggy’s adventures are exciting enough, and it’s fun watching her kick butt and brilliantly outsmart the villains, including Spider Raymond (Andre Royo, The Wire), Leet Brannis (James Frain, Grimm), and Miles Van Ert (James Urbaniak, The Venture Bros.).

AGENT CARTER is feminism in action without pounding you over the head with it. Sure, Peggy’s boss, Roger Dooley (Shea Whigham, Boardwalk Empire), has no confidence in her, nor do co-workers golden boy Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray, One Tree Hill) and bumbling Ray Krzeminski (Kyle Bornheimer, Perfect Couples). But Stark and Jarvis have plenty of faith in her, and her peer, Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj, Dollhouse), respects her, too. So how people regard Peggy is more about them as individuals than the time as a whole.

Where the show gets most preachy is when we hear the Captain American radio plays, which paint Peggy as a damsel in distress that the hero must rescue. Of course, at one point this is interspersed with her beating the heck out of a baddie, so it’s more laughable bit than social commentary.

AGENT CARTER feels fresh, and it feels new. I think making it a period piece sets it apart from other network fare, and while the structure of show isn’t wholly original, making it one big story instead of cases-of-the-week keeps it compelling. I do wish it had been set in the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D., thus adding to the franchise as a whole, but it’s still a fun piece without that, and I look forward to seeing where the plot is going over the next six weeks. And maybe season two will satisfy that other want?

AGENT CARTER airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.