Image via Complex
It's the topic of everyone's conversation because it's the most important thing going right now: coronavirus rules everything around us...or at least Hollywood. And even though they are trying to fix their losses by dropping some of the early 2020 heat digitally, there's a lot of films moving to later this year or 2021. We get it, but it puts a damper on the fun we had building up for the theaters this year. That said, we're glad there's a gang of new TV to consume these days.
This week, we've got a trio of shows we've been covering for weeks now, but that's why: they are that damn good. They haven't gotten worse, either, which is great. From traveling to New Orleans to the plot thickening in New Mexico, we're really getting some quality new television to devour while we literally can't do anything else.
You know the routine; scroll down and catch a vibe off this week's best in TV. If you haven't watched, do us a favor and rectify that. You're welcome.
The Plot Against America - “Part 3”
Where to Watch: HBO Now
After setting up the electoral tension in the first two episodes, we finally see the stakes of Lindbergh’s presidency in America. The inevitable anti-Semitism that we’ve seen glimpses of in the past two episodes is now in full display. The Levins’ younger son, Phil, starts dealing with nightmares of Nazism in America, a sign that the youth are feeling the threat of Lindbergh’s budding alliance with Hitler. Meanwhile, Bess makes the clandestine backup plan to get her family on the waiting list to move to Canada, much to Herman’s frustration. In the family, we see a collision of two different ideologies—one who places the family’s safety above all else (Bess) and the other who refuses to abandon their home country due to their allegiance to honorable American values (Herman). We also see Evelyn getting fully wrapped up in Rabbi Bengelsdorf’s political ideals without questioning them. She embraces his new Just Folks Initiative, which pairs “city kids” (primarily from Jewish families) and relocates them to farms with a host family to learn about and “assimilate” to All American ideals. She encourages Sandy to join the program and promises a fulfilling summer with a farm family in Kentucky—neither of them fully understanding the implications of cultural assimilation at play.
The Levins deal with the Lindberghian world on their trip to Washington D.C. After getting lost while trying to find their hotel, the Levins are stopped by a cop who curtly guides them to their destination. Herman jokes that they’re getting the royal treatment whereas Bess is fraught with worry that they don’t know where the cop is leading them. The cop, in fact, does take them to their hotel safely but the Levins’ anxiety is not unjustified. We see them trying to figure out who exactly they can trust—from the tour guide who approaches them to the hotel concierge. Throughout the trip, the Levins are met with discriminatory remarks and are evicted from their hotel. When Herman suspects that their removal is based on Anti-Semitism, he tries to bring the cops in to support this. But we see the indifference on the cops’ faces and how it will be a larger uphill battle against these institutions that don’t care about their humanity.
At the end of the episode, we see the Levins seeing Sandy off as he takes the train to Kentucky. Herman realizes that Sandy has to learn about the new America that they’re living in mainly on his own. It’s not entirely different from Alvin’s decision to make his own way in the Canadian Army. However, in the episode’s final scene, we see that his decision came at a price. We see him unconscious in a hospital bed, recovering from an amputation with his lover at his bedside, who finally walks away. It’s not certain whether Alvin will go back to Newark and if the same morally crippling path lies ahead for Sandy. Given the tensions that have arisen thus far, it’s fair to assume that more hardship awaits them. —Andie Park
‘Better Call Saul’ - “JMM” (Season 5, Episode 7)
Where to Watch: AMC
I’ve written before about how much of Better Call Saul plays with the ideas of duality. However, if this week’s episode — expertly directed by first-timer Melissa Bernstein (a long time producer on Breaking Bad, Saul, and El Camino) and writer Alison Tatlock — perhaps proved to us the show is not so much about duality as a three-head-monster. The “JMM” that this episode draw’s its title from was previously understood to be “James Morgan McGill” was then shifted to “Justice Matter Most” to its now final meaning: “Just Make Money.” This evolving nomenclature could just as easily be applied to the three phases of Jimmy’s (Bob Odenkirk) life as Jimmy McGill, Saul Goodman, and the man we’ll later come to know as Cinnabon Gene. The consequences of Jimmy Morgan McGill led to Saul Goodman’s “Justice Matters Most,” which begets “Just Make Money,” which eventually leads to Gene and a life of looking over his shoulder. The root of that eventual outcome begins, in full, here.
For as much as we’ve already seen Jimmy embrace his Saul Goodman persona, “JMM” might as well mark the death of any aspect of Jimmy McGill in the public eye. If the magic man’s courtroom wizardry wasn’t enough to convince us he’s fully embraced Saul as his default mask, his outburst on Howard (Patrick Fabian) seemingly shut the door and threw away the key. In a fit of righteous fury, Jimmy delivers his version of the “I am the one who knocks” speech—but the whole affair is coated with an extra level of sadness. Much has been made of the shot of Jimmy’s haunting reflection as he deals with just what it means to have saved Lalo (Tony Dalton), thus solidifying his status as a “friend of the cartel” (a phrase that he’ll evoke when he first meets Walt and Jesse) at the expense of an innocent, dead man. That pain coats the entire exchange with Howard as Jimmy blusteringly talks himself, in real-time, into the decision he’s made to attach himself to the cartel is a worthwhile one.
In reality, I don’t know if Jimmy ever had much of a choice. It seems like these events were destined for him long before Saul Goodman was even a thought in his mind. As I turn the excellent “JMM” over and over again in my mind, I can’t help but think about the scene between Kim (Rhea Seehorn) and Jimmy at home after their wedding day. As the two talk nakedly—both literally and figuratively—about Jimmy potentially working with the cartel, I’m struck by how much the darkness there is lingering in the frame. As we get closer and closer to the entrance of Walter White, those two disparate elements of this show—the Breaking Bad crime aspect and Saul’s legal world—were bound to intertwine and cause unstable reactions; the conversation in the shadows proves to us now just how the two are now permanently fused together. There’s no escape for Jimmy as we move forward, only a headfirst plunge into chaos. —William Goodman
'Better Things' - "New Orleans" (Season 4, Episode 6)
Where to Watch: Hulu
With so much going on in Sam's life, it's always dope to see her be able to let loose and just chill. We've seen Sam on location for films and out of town, but most of that is for work or family stuff. Her trip to NOLA? Sure, it was for an interesting marriage ceremony, but once that was over, Sam took another day to really dig into New Orleans, and I felt like I was seeing the city again through her eyes. (I've only been to New Orleans twice: once in diapers, and the 2nd for work. Sure, I saw the city, but I don't feel like I got to do it like Sam did.)
It was also dope to see Sam's Ex come back into the picture. What's his name? I don't know, but that attraction is real; the lighting of the cig to then hand to her? It's wild because he has a whole significant other, but you can only imagine what really went down in NOLA. Hopefully Sam had a glorious ending to her trip, and that it doesn't complicate things too much. Not sure if she's really ready to uproot her life and stay there, but it would be interesting to see the rest of her brood coming alive in New Orleans. A guy can dream, right? —khal