VERY relevant and VERY streaming
This week: Jane The Virgin, Divorce, Fleabag, and 4 Weddings and a Funeral
Hello again!
I must begin this issue with a huge apology.
Last week, I neglected to mention Blown Away - the Netflix glass-blowing competition series. You see, I saw it at a friend’s BBQ on Sunday, July 29 after we’d already eaten the burgers then hid inside to enjoy the a/c.
They call the fire pit a “glory hole” and not one person giggles.
What began as an ironic meta watch in the first episode turned into a “I can’t quite believe how entertaining this is” earnest watch by the second episode and we made a pact there and then to only watch it when we were all together again. I came home, forgot all about it, and moved on with the excellent Workin’ Moms.
Please know that I fully regret not mentioning it last week because if there isn’t trust between you, the newsletter reader, and me, the newsletter writer, then what is even the point of anything?!
Phew, now that I got that off my chest, take a minute to forward this email to someone you also owe an apology. Or someone who owes you an apology. The choices are endless. Tell them all will be forgiven if they subscribe to A Waste Of Time. Explain that all they have to do to make things ok between you two is click the button below. After all, life is short too short not to say, “I’m sorry. Sign up now.”
Let’s get started.
Here’s what I watched last week - the good, the bad, and the embarrassing:
Wednesday, July 31
I tried to watch La Casa De Papel (translation: Money Heist) after hearing about it on Bobby Finger’s new Netflix podcast I’m Obsessed With This. Unfortunately, it’s all in Spanish on account of being a Spanish show out of Spain so I stopped reading the subtitles 10 minutes in to focus on making dinner. Then I tried to watch another episode of Narcos but that’s also in Spanish (though not out of Spain) and I also stopped reading the subtitles after 10 minutes to focus on eating dinner. Then I remembered there was a new episode of Divorce.
I really love this series, as I’ve mentioned before, and am genuinely upset it’s ending. According to the preview, next week will be the series finale but it just doesn’t feel like it’s cooked yet. The characters or the overall storyline isn’t at a decent stopping point yet so I have no idea how it will end. Past seasons have gotten 10 episodes each but, knowing they were going to can it, HBO only wanted to pay for 6 more episodes.
It’s highly likely I’ll dye my hair SJP bronde very soon.
From the preview, I gather Coach Mike will be back to resolve things with Frances, Robert’s new pregnant wife is annoyed he still cares for his ex, and there’s something about the family’s house maybe being sold. My hunch is that this whole thing will end one of two ways:
Robert and Frances realize they’re meant to be together and reunite after this entire divorce debacle.
Robert and Frances realize they’re meant to be apart and live happily ever after co-parenting their kids.
Molly Shannon has also been a true gem throughout this entire series and I hope she continues to do more TV after this because she is very good and brings true talent and heart to every project.
Where to watch: HBO
Thursday, August 1
On the heels of Divorce, I really wanted to watch Heartburn, the 1986 movie by Nora Ephron based on her 1983 novel of the same title, based on her IRL divorce from Carl Bernstein (of Watergate and All The President’s Men fame). I couldn’t find it streaming so instead ended up watching Where The Heart Is.
Remember when she gives birth in the Wal-Mart?
The book was a big deal when Oprah picked it for her book club in 1998 and the movie was a big deal when it came out in 2000. It’s interesting to watch today and much sadder than I remember (there’s poverty, mental illness, and a really upsetting storyline about child abuse). But it’s still a great story about women picking themselves up and doing the work to build the lives they want for themselves. So for that and for Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, and Stockard Channing doing their damn best, it was not a waste of time.
Still comfortable on the couch after the movie ended, I turned on The Chef Show to see what the fuss was about following the Gwyneth Paltrow promo that includes her not remembering she’d been in a Spider-Man movie that Jon Favreau directed.
“I was in Spider-Man?!”
I was surprised to find it a very sweet, genuine portrayal of Favreau’s friendship with chef Roy Choi that also includes legitimately good cooking. It’s not at all pretentious (though it easily could be) and the way Choi teaches Jon how to slice, marinate, pull up whipped cream when plating the berry dessert, or pour cake batter into ramekins without making a mess is honestly very helpful.
Much like in Seinfeld’s show, the intimacy of the conversations wouldn’t be possible with any old host. There’s something about two people of comparable celebrity who seem to be actual friends interacting on camera that makes for good television. Back to the Gwyneth appearance, it’s actually hilarious and I found myself cackling alone in the living room, especially when you realize that between the time they filmed this - likely spring 2018 - without any idea what shape the “show” would take and when it was released in summer 2019, Gwyneth had plenty of time to ask her friend and former director (Favreau) to remove that clip. That she consented to keeping it in makes me like her even more. Way to play the cool card, Goop.
Before going to bed, I blew through a couple episodes of Schitt’s Creek, which I’ve seen before but started again at the beginning because it it just so damn good.
Then friend of the newsletter Paige Hill sent me the above clip so I also queued up John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City Music Hall to watch the clip where he impersonates Mick Jagger because absolutely nothing makes me laugh harder in the entire world. I ended up watching the entire special because it is excellent and going to bed quite late.
Where to watch: for Where The Heart Is - HBO, for The Chef Show, Schitt’s Creek, and John Mulaney - Netflix
Friday, August 2
No TV was watched this day.
Saturday, August 3
I went to Stamford to visit friend of the newsletter Kaitlyn Piccoli and her husband kindly let me watch the Jane The Virgin finale on their very fancy TV after the BBQ was over.
*Jane The Virgin spoilers ahead*
What the HELL is this dress, Petra?!
The series was definitely wrapped in the prettiest of bows but it didn’t do much for me overall. The tidiness of every single plot line made a lot of the elements that I loved about the show seem trite.
Jane and Rafael deserved a bigger, grander wedding (he wore a tan suit, for chrissakes! TAN!), we really never needed to know who the narrator was, and Petra could have been left alone, happy with her Marbella, and a possibility of love in her future. That it diligently followed the telenovela tropes of ending with a wedding, slaying the bad guy, and giving everyone a happy ending does make me appreciate its commitment to genre and even though the final episode didn’t work for me personally, I will continue to yell about how Jane The Virgin was one of the best shows on TV until something equally good comes along.
Where to watch: cw.com
Sunday, August 4
Sunday I was still in Connecticut and spent the day watching Fleabag season with friend of the newsletter Jillian Sorgini. She had only seen season 1 and what started as a quick “let’s watch a couple episodes” turned into “it’s now raining so let’s eat leftovers and finish the season.”
“Hair IS everything.”
We all collectively marveled at the brilliance of the hair monologue and also, obviously, every other word Phoebe Waller-Bridge writes and says as Fleabag. I am torn over news that Amazon is trying to convince her to do one more season because while I agree the season 2 ending is perfect, I also know that if anyone would make a not-crap money-grab revival, it’d be her.
Do you want more Fleabag or are you ok with how it ended? Let me know.
Once I got home, I put away laundry (Yes, I travel with dirty laundry. Fight me) and watched Fleabag season 1 again while doing so. I remembered that Olivia Coleman is even more perfect in the beginning and that they never tell you either Fleabag’s name or her dad’s name. They only call him “Father” and Olivia Coleman calls him “darling.” They even make a joke about it season 2. Coleman’s character, meanwhile, also doesn’t get a name. She’s simply “Godmother.”
I haven’t fully figured out what the symbolism of that is but I do appreciate that without names, you don’t have an external label to slap onto these characters and are therefore left to simply get to know them by their actions and characteristics, most of which are, indeed, deplorable.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Monday, August 5
Monday I watched the newest episode of Younger and you already know what I’m going to say - why can’t they just let everyone be happy for, like, 1 second?! Late Night with Seth Meyers was fine, Grown-ish had Zoe making an important decision for herself that her boyfriend might not like, and I started the semi-anticipated 4 Weddings And A Funeral series remake.
*Mild 4 Weddings And A Funeral spoilers ahead*
The first 3 episodes are ROUGH, my friends. Everything is stilted, the characters have almost no chemistry, and the jokes feel far too rehearsed. The exposition in that pilot is out the ass and people go around saying completely ridiculous things like:
“Maybe I only like [Mamma Mia] because my mom and I saw it on Broadway a few months before she died.”
This fake-ass half smile is exactly how I feel about the show too.
Yet for a show that’s so mired in too much tell/not enough show, they gloss over a lot of important things, like what the hell does Maya do with her D.C. apartment when she decides on a whim to stay in London?
Nothing the main characters do seems to make any sense in the context of reality and their decisions will make any person who hasn’t recently suffered a head injury go “What the fuck?!” more than once. The only good part is the British friend and her family. Her husband Quentin is truly a great and interesting character and the kid who plays their son is likely the best actor on the series, hands down.
Some other thoughts I had while watching this show:
It’s honestly rude they wait until episode 3 to bring out Andy MacDowell.
Man like Mobeen’s Guz Khan continues to be a delight on screen.
The dad from The Wedding Date is in this!
Yes, I will keep watching, mostly for the locations, set design, and the guy who played Shitstain on You’re The Worst (Brandon Mychal Smith). It’s quite nice to see him thrive.
Where to watch: for Younger - tvland.com, for Late Night with Seth Meyers, Grown-ish, and 4 Weddings And A Funeral - Hulu
Tuesday, August 6
*Divorce spoilers ahead*
The time finally came for the Divorce series finale, which wrapped up with one of the two scenarios I predicted above. I am only a little smug about this.
We cannot wrap up our discussion of Divorce without talking about the very specific and perfect musical motif on the show. It’s the type of ’70s soft rock you might hear at the dentist or a Michael’s craft store. Maybe you call it Dad Rock, or, my personal favorite, Yacht Rock.
In 2018, Megan McLachlan announced that Adult Contemporary is [the show’s] Unsung Hero and I wholeheartedly agree. We previously talked about how Frances’ enviable wardrobe is modeled after the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman. When you add in the music, it’s clear the film is subtly eluding to the divorce phenomenon sparked by the women’s movement of that decade. Nora Ephron famously wrote about this as well; how as soon as women realized they had the option to not be married, they began divorcing their husbands in droves.
This is a Thomas Haden Church appreciation photo.
So it felt like sweet confirmation when the series ended with a hit from the following decade (1983’s “Owner Of a Lonely Heart” by Yes) to signify that Robert and Frances had moved on from the winter of their discontent – notice how it’s always cold on that show – and into a brighter future as contently divorced co-parents.
I’d love to write more about this so holler at me if you’re an editor and interested in the piece.
*Claws spoilers ahead*
In Claws season 3, episode 9 we learn for sure that Desna does not have what it takes to be a cold-blooded killer (and that Uncle Daddy absolutely does). Even so, things still tend to generally work out in her favor. Although I wonder if the ruthless leader of the Triads from Macau will be satisfied with Melba simply getting run over by a chicken truck after he specifically asked Desna to take her out. Everything seemed to be on its way to normal again between the girls and even between Desna and her brother. Only Quiet Ann’s forgiveness is delayed after she insisted on needing more time on account of, oh, you know, her FIANCÉ BEING MURDERED!
But just when we were ready to soft pitch it into a happy(ish) season 3 finale, we ended on a true cliffhanger that Uncle Daddy’s sugar baby is now speaking with the feds and ratting out Roller of all people. I guess Roller ending up behind bars again - or worse - would feel like temporary punished to Desna in return for lying to Quiet Ann about Arlene’s death.
I went to bed catching up on the latest episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Where to watch: for Divorce - HBO, for Claws - tnt.com, for Late Night - Hulu
Wednesday, August 7
I watched Late Night with Seth Meyers in the morning while getting ready. White Michelle Williams was on talking about her Emmy nomination for Fosse/Verdon, which I raved about here and here and here too. Then Noel Gallagher followed her to promote his new album and was quite funny although I wish Seth had asked more questions about Noel’s never-ending fight with his brother.
White Michelle Williams, above.
Later, I started the fourth episode of Four Weddings And A Funeral but unfortunately had to run out for a lunch meeting and never finished it. Still, I keep thinking about the characters and wondering what happens to them so it’s clear that even after all the poo-pooing I did earlier (and truly, though, the first 3 episodes are tough to get through), I will continue watching this ridiculous show.
Where to watch: Hulu
And that’s all she wrote, folks. Stay tuned for next week’s TV diary where we WILL discuss exactly what’s wrong with 4 Weddings And A Funeral.
xoxo,
-delia
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One More Thing
In lieu of Keanu Korner this week, I want to recommend my friend Lauren Passell’s newsletter about podcasts, amazingly titled: “Podcast The Newsletter.” Lauren does with podcasts what I do with TV, which is, consume entirely more than is recommended or healthy. And she writes about it all wonderfully.
She also has a Podcast Finder Quiz which you should take if you’re ever in the mood to listen to something other than Michael Barbaro’s infuriating cadence.
Final Thoughts
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