As much as I would love a second season of this fun comedy series, Survival of the Thickest, it just seems like it will be another show that gets lost in the black hole that is Netflix. Which is a shame, because this thing was great!
Read moreTV show
Somebody Somewhere – Season 2 Review
Gosh does this show just make me happy! It seems like so much time has passed between seasons (really, it hasn’t), but starting up the new season was like talking to an old friend.
Something I was very interested in seeing how it would be handled was the death of actor Mike Haggarty, who had died a few months after the first season aired. For now it seems, the show doesn’t really have to address it. They sell it as him finally going on a vacation with his brother now that he’s agreed to sell the farm. I’m glad he’s still a part of the show for now, even only in spirit. We also deal with Sam and Trish’s mother fairly swiftly. She’s been raising hell at the assisted living facility she’s in, so she gets sent to a state hospital to work out her psych meds. It’s clear both girls are happy to get her out of their lives for now, but mourn the fact that she will likely never be the same again.
In the personal lives of this small town, we get to see some welcome new developments. For starters, Fred is getting married! That’s kind of the driving force behind most of the season, as Sam is asked to sing and Joel to officiate. Joel, on the other hand, finds himself a boyfriend, which ends up causing quite the rift between he and Sam. I read an interview with Bridget Everett who said Sam has the emotional fortitude of a toddler, and you can tell in the way she cuts people out or how she reacts to certain things. But she’s learning to be better about it. And close friendships are usually pretty hard to break. Speaking of friendships, I loved seeing Trish really become a more enjoyable character this season! She was pretty intolerable that first season, but life hit her hard and she was evidently open to change.
Aside from Sam dealing with her family and eventual friend drama, this is also a season where she decides to get back into singing lessons seriously. She pretty easily convinces her high school coach to take her back on again, but Sam’s big emotions and her inability to process them means she eventually gives up. It’s not for Darlene’s lack of trying though, and even though the lessons don’t resume, she still reassures Sam that she’s always in her corner. Really, Sam’s group of people are good people. They are always there for her. Like I said before, this show just makes me feel good, and I promise the season finale will have a smile lighting up your face the entire time. I also laughed like crazy at the end of the second episode this season, so look forward to that!
Lucky for me, the show already got picked up for another season, so I can’t wait to see what they have in store!
Book Review: The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr
After nearly two years, TNT finally premiered the second season of The Alienist, which is based off of Caleb Carr’s second novel in the Dr. Kreizler series, The Angel of Darkness. Rather than wait to read this novel, I decided to get the jump on the series and read the book first! This was no small feat by the way. Clocking in at over 600 pages, and with a divine amount of detail, this book took me longer than the average to crank out, but I managed to do so just a day before the second season premiere! As expected, the novel was fantastic. Everything depicted with such vivid detail and a fine amount of humor laced within the serious context of the story.
Read moreFan Art Friday: Roswell, New Mexico
The wait is over and Roswell, New Mexico is back on Monday! I latched onto this show pretty hard last year, so naturally I am pumped that it’s finally back. New episodes means more screen time of my two favorite characters from the show, Michael and Alex, so below are drawings of the actors who portray them, Michael Vlamis and Tyler Blackburn.
Read moreNew Show Review: Dead to Me
Okay, so technically Dead to Me isn’t a new show, but when I started it many months ago it was! Even though this show only consisted of ten half hours segments, I got half way through when I decided I needed to watch all of Stranger Things and Animal Kingdom, along with shoving in some MTV reality trash. And so here we are, finally finished with this dark comedy, and quite frankly it was a delight! Not the best show I’ve ever seen, but some quality acting and A+ delivery.
Read moreTV Rewind: Animal Kingdom, Seasons 1 & 2
So now that I’ve finally gotten into the swing of TNT’s drama, Animal Kingdom, based off of the Australian film of the same name, I figured I’m safe to finally write about it! I should also note that I’m doing the same thing I did with Gotham, in that I am watching the older seasons while also watching the newest episodes…not confusing at all.
Read moreMovie Review: Animal Kingdom
Before I start actively watching TNT’s Animal Kingdom from the beginning (currently on season 4), I decided to watch the Australian film of the same name that it is loosely based on. I should also note that the film centers on the real life Pettingill crime family of Melbourne, which is a little crazy if you think about it.
Truthfully, I have seen parts of the U.S. television show, and the movie is a bit boring. I also thought that Jackie Weaver’s role was pretty limited and was a little confused why she got an Oscar nomination for it, but I digress. The film is told in the perspective of Joshua “J” Cody as he moves in with his grandmother and uncles following his mother’s suicide death. His uncles, Pope, Craig, Deran, and family friend Baz all specialize in armed robbery. The police are onto the family and are actively looking for Pope.
In all the chaos, Baz gets killed off early, which leads to the rest of the family getting sloppy and falling apart. J is mostly to blame for all of their hardships, which also end up getting Craig killed in the process. After everything the family has gone through, grandma Smurf decides that “J needs to go” and puts a hit out on him. Aware of this, J heads back to talk with Smurf and ends up killing Pope as retaliation for smothering his girlfriend. This ends up cementing his place within the family (not that there are many members left).
Like I said, this was a little slow, but the Australian accents made up for that in a way. And the cast was absolutely amazing, but I look forward to all the action I know the U.S. series has to offer. They seem to follow each other well enough, but you have to make it exciting if you’re dragging a two-hour movie over the course of at least 46 hours of television. I’ll report back as I finish each installment!