'who's chasing you?' suggestions for the long weekend
This week: My Best Friend's Wedding, The Let Down, Succession, and Mindhunter.
| shampagne | Aug 30, 2019 |
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Here’s what I watched last week - the good, the bad, and the embarrassing:
Saturday, August 17
No television was watched but I did attend the 5th annual ToeJam musical festival in Hudson Valley and it was as wonderful as always. If you’re a cool person who loves chill good times and exactly 1 night of camping per calendar year, consider coming up next summer.

I have an extra tent!
Sunday, August 18
After getting home from ToeJam and celebrating friend of the newsletter Rae Higgins’ birthday, I vegged on the couch with Late Night with Seth Meyers with Jake Tapper. The best bit was hearing the two TV men talk about tie clip mics versus traditional lav mics - it’s just the kind of intimate insider talk I like.
That night brought the infamous Succession Vaulter episode and I felt triggered and horrified watching Kendall destroy the Gawker-like company he’d worked so hard to acquire in Season 1.
Much has been written on what Succession gets right about media empires. In this case, the show is extremely accurate with how painfully out of touch tech CEOs sound when they address their blogging worker bees at those insipid stand-up meetings. The false praise and empty promises the undeserved leaders of start-up media companies make during their All Hands only shines a brighter, more painful light on how ignorant they are about to what’s actually happening within their organizations.

I’ve been with a number of these companies in the last 10 years and always had a hunch my bosses possessed no interest in quality journalism and certainly no care for the lives of the people toiling online all day to make them a profit - regardless of how much “Oh but we’re a family” talk they spew at every turn. Watching the second eldest Logan child ruthlessly cleaver this entire company (only after wringing out their final good ideas) to curry favor with his father was confirmation I never really needed. Something broke in me watching this episode and with it, any hope I might have had that a media company will ever look out for its employees’ wellbeing.
That said, I can’t stop thinking about the staffers that Kendall does keep; the people who moved upstairs to run a clickbait UGC farm. Who are they? How were they swayed to fuck over their coworkers? Did it even take much convincing?
Where to watch: for Late Night - Hulu, for Succession - HBO
Monday, August 19
Monday was another catch-up day and it included the newest episode of Younger, 2 episodes of the Getting Younger after-show that just autoplayed because I left my computer on, and the previous night’s Last Week Tonight. All were varying levels of fine and good but nothing to really write home about.
But then I did watch the pilot for The Righteous Gemstones - Danny McBride’s latest dramedy for HBO about a fucked up family of TV evangelists - and totally loved it! John Goodman is my favorite and the opening sequence that shows their motorcade driving into the Gemstone compound was really well done. As a child, I remember seeing Pat Robertson on TV while channel surfing and thinking he seemed full of crap. As an adult, I’m here for anything that’ll lampoon these charlatans.
Having heard a lot about Julio Torres’ My Favorite Shapes comedy special, I decided to finally see the fuss. The costumes and set designed by his mother and sister are very pretty and super cool. His overall idea is creative and his execution is quite humorous. But I never laughed out loud and, in fact, drifted off at one point because Julio’s manner of speaking is so soft and reserved it quite literally put me to sleep. I woke up for the end of it and realized it must have been a very fun show to attend when he taped in Brooklyn last March. I’ll probably try watching it again, after a cup of coffee.

If they design a coffeeshop like this, I will overpay for matcha there.
Then I started the much-loved Los Espookys and really liked the first 2 episodes. This is a bilingual show about a gang of friends who get hired to concoct scares for various reasons in an unnamed Latin American country. It’s good and I will be watching more.
Finally at night, I turned my attention to Showtime and saw they’d put up the first 2 episodes of On Being A God In Central Florida. Having actually grown up in central Florida, Kirsten Dunst’s entire wardrobe harkens memories of the neons and pastels of my youth; as do her French tips and teased bangs.

I’d like to speak to the manager about this mullet. And the suit. And honestly that tie.
Bonus, I’m always here for a woman-taking-control-of-her-life narrative, especially if it’s one that throws in the potential downfall of a predatory pyramid scheme. My only complaint is that the pilot managed to make hottie Alexander Skarsgård completely unattractive. Like, wtf?!
Where to watch: for Younger and Getting Younger - tvland.com, for Last Week Tonight, The Righteous Gemstones, My Favorite Shapes, & Los Espookys - HBO, for On Being A God In Central Florida - Showtime
Tuesday, August 20
After casually watching a few episodes of The Let Down in past weeks, I finally committed to the show (OR it finally sucked me in) and I blew threw the end of season 1 and all of season 2 on Tuesday. Watch the entire series together because the show does a great job of splitting up the first year of life with a newborn into the two seasons. The first 6 months [season 1] are more painful (as all the mothers figure out exactly what the hell is going on) and the following 6+ months are less rough [season 2] but still difficult in various ways. That the show spends time highlighting each woman’s experience is absolutely lovely; as is that they don’t shy away from uncomfortable topics like abortion, mother-daughter conflicts, marriage troubles, and alcoholism.

I love this show.
Pay special attention in season 2 when Ester puts on her night creams and her husband Ruben keeps lamenting that it’s taking too long/interfering with their sex life.
Where to watch: Netflix
Wednesday, August 21
Wednesday is Four Weddings And A Funeral day (get it? “W” for Wednesday AND for wedding??) and after watching the new episode, I realized my main frustration is that you also can’t binge it. Watching it through in one go would at least help the show build some momentum, rather than anger me while I wait another 6 days to find out what other obvious statements the characters will make at each other.
Since I’ve already yelled about how annoying their exposition is, and we heard Amma’s theory that the friends are meant to be unlikeable, this week, I want to focus on things I like about the show: their sets and the very cute man who plays Kash.
First, the sets - which are admittedly over the top and not my style, are nice to look at. So few shows based in modern day go big on set design and it’s nice to see wallpaper, color, and fun decor throughout the series.

It helps that Ainsley’s character is a decorator, of course, but I like that they play it up.
Second, Kash - aka actor Nikesh Patel. I came to know him while binging the Masterpiece series Indian Summers last…summer. The Four Weddings pilot describes him as “Ryan Gosling dipped in caramel” and all I can say is he looks damn good in a turtleneck. Unlike Nathalie Emmanuel, who doesn’t appear to have a comedic bone in her body and definitely never lands any of Maya’s jokes, Nikesh is doing his best so far with the material he’s given and it’s only on account of how likable he is as a person that I’m rooting for Kash at this point.

Told ya.
Dermot Mulroney’s role in Four Weddings made me want to watch him in another, better wedding movie so I found My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Some things I noticed watching the 1997 film this time around:
Paul Giamatti plays a bellhop who gives Julia Roberts some good advice.
Polly from Claws (Carrie Preston) plays one of the scandalous cousins.
Speaking of scandalous, there’s a part in the movie where the other cousin (Rachel Griffiths) gets her tongue stuck on an ice sculpture replica of the David.
Julia Roberts’ character is only 27 in the movie and yet already an accomplished and feared food critic?!
The pact she and Michael made was that they’d get married if they were both still single by 28. 😂 😂 😂
Her suits are absolutely ginormous!

Julia is SWIMMING in this suit.
Natalie Daher (who writes her own LOVELY newsletter called Clipped about women in media) also kindly sent me this article breaking down My Best Friend’s Wedding for its 20th Anniversary in 2017 and wouldn’t you know it…it was also written by my pop culture crush Bobby Finger.
Wednesday night, my CSA partner Fahima came over to split our bi-weekly share of farm-fresh fruit, veg, and organic eggs and it came out that she had not yet seen Succession (like, any of it! at all!) so I immediately interrupted whatever interesting thing she was probably saying and pressed play on the pilot.
We didn’t finish the episode because it was late but she promised to revisit it soon. Alone, I let the show keep playing while getting ready for bed and thank goodness, because it really put season 2 into stark contrast.

Thank Town & Country Magazine for this gift.
For example, season 1 starts with Kendall going hard to buy Vaulter, sure it’s going to seal his takeover of his father’s company (at one point, his ex-wife even refers to it as his “coronation”). That alone makes what happened last episode (R.I.P. Vaulter) even more jarring. The siblings also do that awful $1 million home run wager with the landscaper’s son, Logan has his helicopter stroke, and exactly all of the kids realize they can literally and figuratively fight each other for control of Waystar while their father is unconscious in a hospital bed.

It also gives us a look at baby Cousin Greg before he had any modicum of savviness, having just one day earlier thrown up out inside a masked character costume. If you haven’t yet fallen down a Google hole reading up on Nicholas Braun - the tall drink of water who plays our dear Cousin Greg - I highly encourage you to start with this magazine profile.
Where to watch: for Four Weddings - Hulu, for My Best Friend’s Wedding - Showtime, for Succession - HBO
Thursday, August 22
I instinctively opened Hulu for my morning Late Night viewing but they’re on vacation this week. I then immediately said “Yes, thank you, please!” when Hulu suggested their newest addition This Way Up.
The 6-episode series comes the UK, where it was written by Aisling Bea and produced by Sharon Horan. It’s about a woman who gets out of rehab after a suicide attempt and goes back to trying to figure out how to deal with all of the daily messiness that comes with being a person.
It is absolutely brilliant. It broke my heart, put it back together, made me laugh, made me cry, made me cry while laughing and laugh while crying, and ultimately it is an extremely good show about what it’s like to struggle with mental illness when you’re highly skilled at pretending everything is ok. Please watch it, enjoy it, tweet about it, tell everyone. It absolutely deserves the praise and attention.

Well, helloOoOo Tobias Menzies.
I also blame this show for introducing me to Tobias Menzies’ rumpled-yet-smoldering charm. My friends, he is devastatingly attractive and literally the reason I will soon be forced to start watching Outlander. My hands are tied. It is beyond my control at this point. Thank you for your thoughts during this challenging time.
I listened to my first episode of the pop culture podcast Blank Check (maybe for research?? maybe I’ll do a podcast???) and landed on the one about Something’s Gotta Give featuring guest star Bobby Finger. You already know how much I stan Bobby, who hosts Who? Weekly and I’m Obsessed With This and is generally one of the funniest people on the part of the internet I patronize. The more these three men talked about Nancy Meyers’ masterpiece, the more I wanted to rewatch it and, blissfully, it is streaming.
This will make your life instantly better.
The important thing to note here is that at the end of the movie, while the credits roll, you can hear Jack Nicholson singing “La Vie En Rose.” It seems odd and maybe too good to be true but I Googled it and uncovered the above deleted scene in which not only does Harry (Jack) sing BUT you actually see him doing it during what appears to be a date/outing with Erica (Diane Keaton). It’s hilarious and perfect and gives us an all-new appreciation of Nancy Meyers’ amazing brain.
Where to watch: for This Way Up - Hulu, for Something’s Gotta Give - Netflix
Friday, August 23
I did not watch TV on account of going up to Columbia’s School of Journalism to teach a social media course to incoming grad students.
Saturday, August 24
I did not watch TV on account of going kayaking in the Poconos with my family.
Sunday, August 25
Before driving back to the city Sunday night, my cousin was watching Mindhunter in the living room. It was already the middle of season 2 but I was intrigued instantly. So I started the series from the beginning when I got home.
There’s something so delicious about having a new show to binge, knowing it will keep you company for a few days’ time. Maybe it’s because I’m single or was often left home babysitter-less with just Nick at Nite or Disney Channel playing in the background. But as soon as I started episode 1, I knew I’d found my new binge friend.
Important to note before next week: Agent Tench is a snack. I don’t make the rules.

Where to watch: Netflix
Trailer Time
A bunch of trailers came out last week so let’s talk about some faves.
Ryan Murphy’s first series for Netflix look deranged and fantastic. Plus: GOOP!
I will definitely finish Mrs. Maisel season 3 in one weekend.
I was late to the Adam Driver fan parade but very happy to be here now. Is he our new Nicholson?
There’s a ~*twist*~ in this George Michael Christmas movie but Emma Thompson wrote this and I trust her.
Absolutely cannot wait for even more content to destroy the legacy of Roger Ailes. Also, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelley is TOO good.
Keanu Korner
Sure sure, there was Keanews (TM) recently that they’re making The Matrix 4 with Keanu and Carrie-Anne Moss but there real star of our Korner is this fantastic Toy Story 4 promo video I found on Tony Hale’s Instagram.
Please watch the entire thing. You will not be disappointed.
Final Thoughts
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