In "TV Roundup, Part 1" I discussed The Expanse, The Haunting of Hill House, and Future Man. Here in Part 2, I'll discuss Russian Doll, Castle Rock, and American Horror Story: Apocalypse!
Russian Doll
About six weeks ago Russian Doll was the latest "new Netflix show everyone is binge watching but might forget about next week." That, along with being yet another show about quirky people in New York City doing quirky things, predisposed me to dislike it. But I liked it, anyway.
Part of it is Natasha Lyonne (previously famous for Orange is the New Black), who portrays a main character whose quirkiness is the surface of a much deeper and more interesting character. Amy Poehler is one of the creators, so you know it's going to have some comedy (and it does, but it's subtle).
But my favorite part of the show is how it tackles the issues of a repeating time loop. This isn't really a spoiler since it's part of the premise of the show. The show does some pretty neat things with the repeating time loop. The main character starts to figure out the "rules" over time (or over the same times, repeating, or ... whatever). And there's another really cool time travel trope that gets thrown into the mix toward the end (or was it the beginning?), but.... I don't want to spoil it (unless I already did?).
The most surprising thing about the show for me was its moral depth. Nadia (Lyonne) starts off as a sort of amoral, somewhat scruffy bon vivant, but we eventually find that she has a lot more going on inside and is capable of real growth over time (or over eight episodes, anyway). A lot of this came into focus for me after reading philosopher Helen De Cruz's excellent essay, "Russian Doll, A Confucian Moral Tale of How to Be a Good Person."
There really are layers of depth here -- oh, now I get it! -- like a Russian doll!
Castle Rock
I really liked Castle Rock, but I can't say I particularly understood it.
My love of Stephen King has only grown in recent years, which lately includes reading the entire Dark Tower series over the last two years. One book I haven't read is Needful Things, which maybe would have slightly enhanced my enjoyment of Castle Rock. Oh, did I mention this is a Stephen King show that is interweaved with the larger Stephen King multiverse almost (but not quite) as much as the Dark Tower series? For example, there's a character named Jackie Torrance whose uncle Stephen King fans can tell you more about.
The main plot of Castle Rock surrounds some of the characters from Needful Things. There is a mysterious man who appears out of nowhere inside Shawshank Prison (yup, that Shawshank). The mystery man is played by Bill Skarsgard, who you may remember as Pennywise from 2017's IT movie (Part 2 is coming this fall!). That mystery keeps things going for awhile, as does the mystery of what happened to reporter Henry Deaver (André Holland) in his childhood (and his mom is played by Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in 1976, so there's some more Stephen King continuity for you).
Do these mysteries get resolved? Not really. In fact, things get a lot more mysterious. There's time travel, alternate dimensions, possibly both, or maybe neither involved. It's a wild ride. Apparently there is a season two on the way, which is set to start a new story maybe involving characters from Misery, but maybe with connections to season one (a lot of maybes there).
Maybe I'll have to rewatch season one. And I need to read Needful Things and Misery (yeah, I know, how could a Stephen King fan not have read Misery...?). If getting fans to further invest in Stephen King's brand is part of what Castle Rock is all about, well, it has been a success with this reviewer.
American Horror Story: Apocalypse
A confession: before this I had never seen any of the American Horror Story seasons. Since it's an anthology series, though, that didn't stop me from checking this out when students were recommending it to me in my horror and philosophy class last fall.
I really enjoyed it! Especially in the first few episodes, there are a lot of wild twists and turns. I never knew what was coming next. Nuclear war? Secret societies? Robots? Book of Revelations type stuff? Sure, why not? (I purposively left a few surprises for you).
The show settles into a groove several episodes in, but it's still fun. The cast is great: Sarah Paulson, Billie Lourd, Frances Conroy, Cody Fern, Billy Eichner, and Gabourey Sidibe are notable, not to mention ... Kathy Bates! (Another Stephen King connection -- oh wait, wrong review...)
I had no idea, but about halfway through watching the season I read that American Horror Story shares a co-creator with Glee (Ryan Murphy). I'm not really a Glee fan (my patience for musical theater isn't great), but I could totally see the resemblance once I knew about it. There's an over-the-top-but-we're-winking-at-you-while-genuinely-enjoying-this sort of vibe to both shows, although thankfully there are no bland musical theater versions of inane pop songs in American Horror Story.
Aside from the delight of keeping the viewer guessing, probably one of the deeper points has to do with issues of personal identity and freedom. To what extent are we the product of our genetic and environmental conditions? And can we turn against everything we are meant to be if we choose to? Are we really free, anyway? What if you freely choose to embrace your destiny? (MILD SPOILER: That all of these questions are focused on the literal Anti-Christ just makes them that much more fun to think about.)
American Horror Story: Apocalypse was a lot of fun. I'm planning to go back and watch some of the previous seasons. I'll try to catch season 10 when it comes out this fall for whatever wild horror fun it might have to offer.
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