I watch terrible television so you don’t have to.
New This Week
Death and Other Details (Tuesday, Hulu)
After stalling last week the mystery picked up and with it the pace. Two more people died, various conspiracies were revealed, and Imogene was betrayed by not one, not two, but three people. I don’t want to give away too much but I was right about Sunil.
The relationship beats are more interesting than the plot but there are so many characters that none of them or their relationships have room to breathe. I’m happy we’re thinning them out even if it is by murder. Winnie and Teddy are interesting, Teddy and Leila are interesting, Imogene and Rufus are the heart of it. But Anna is the MVP this week, and maybe the sleeper MVP of the whole thing. She swings from vulnerable to vicious in a heartbeat and her drunken karaoke with Tripp is a highlight of the week.
FBI (Wednesday, Paramount+)
No Chicagos or Laws and Orders but don’t worry, we still get Dick Wolf. Despite being on a different network, FBI had a crossover with Chicago PD and therefore all of the Chicagos, Laws and Orders, and FBIs are in the same universe MCU style. And it is as absurd as the MCU, and I love it just as much.
They start the season with a Tiffany (Katherine Renee Kane) episode, which is overdue, and the death of one of our own on her watch. Scola (John Boyd) is (correctly) deemed Too White to go undercover at a Somali restaurant so Tiff is paired with Trevor Hobbes (Roshawn Franklin) who promptly dies.
The episode is playing with two intertwined ideas. One, the criminals are refugees who’ve been driven to terrorism by their anger over U.S. political aggression overseas and stateside. Apparently, DW is going rip these particular headlines into all of his shows (see: the L&O premiere and Kim’s trip to the sanctuary on CPD). And it is as successful here as there, which is to say: they’ve made the criminals righteous and sympathetic but they are still the villains and this is still nationalist copaganda.
Two, the episode starts with Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) giving Tiff the tldr; version of her performance review: be more aggressive. Tiffany looks upset because she’s spent her whole life hiding/suppressing her aggression to avoid being seen as an Angry Black Woman. And then she spends the whole episode being Too Aggressive because she feels guilty about being Not Aggressive Enough, and about Hobbe’s death. Jubal, ever paternalistic, takes credit for her rage spiral in his attempt to make her feel better about and he’s sort of right but also everyone ever’s emotions aren’t about you, Jubal (I love him but he’s the worst).
You might think I’m reading too much into this but the bombers are initially profiled as Middle Eastern so OA (Zeeko Zaki) has to deal with racism by both witnesses and the random law enforcement officers they work with. Again. This show is not subtle.
Anyway, RIP Trevor Hobbes, we hardly knew you. Literally: he was introduced and killed off in this episode. They did succeed in tugging my heartstrings by making him responsible for OA’s nickname.
FBI Most Wanted (Wednesday, Paramount+)
There really are too many of these DW shows cuz here’s another case that felt like SVU or an SVUxOC crossover. But the case didn’t matter, the point was to reintroduce Nina (Shantal VanSanten), a transplant from the OG FBI who replaces Kristin (Alexa Devalos). Devalos was let go for no particular reason (also reminiscent of SVU), which is annoying, but I I like Nina. She aggressively (heh) inserts herself into the team, making it clear she went after this job and showing off to Remy (Dylan McDermott) and Barnes (Roxy Sternberg).
The episode also sets up Remy’s latest family drama. Last season he learned that the man imprisoned for his brother’s murder was innocent (they caught the killer in the S4 finale, but the innocent man died) and he has a nephew. Corey (JD Martin) is 25 and in med school but Remy wants to be the dad he never had. Sounds like this will be paralleled with Nina and Scola raising their infant son and I think I’m excited about it. (More on upcoming S5 plotlines here.)
As for Kristin’s exit, Nina heard rumors it was due to her having a thing with Remy and I wish I wasn’t into that but I absolutely am.
So Help Me Todd (Friday, Paramount+)
Ah, my fun crime procedural. So Help Me Todd is a dramedy and the season two premiere includes a delightfully awkward dinner party and a catch-the-killer scene that borders on slapstick. It’s great.
Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden), Todd (Skylar Astin), and Allison (Madeline Wise) are all dealing with shifts in their work and relationships. Margaret was promoted to named partner but it turns out the firm is in financial trouble and she’s happily pursuing a relationship with Gus (Jeffrey Nordling) but her Evil Ex Harry (Mark Moses) returned to make her life miserable. Todd got his PI license back but his (Not At All Actually) Evil Ex Susan (Inga Schlingmann) eloped before he could tell her he loved her. And Allison celebrated her divorce with a retreat that turned out to be a scam to steal her identity so she’s broke and living on Todd’s couch. Though still being a bad ass ER doctor, ilu Allison.
I watch this show for the family at the heart of it and I am super here for Todd and Allison taking care of each other, especially now that Allison is struggling and Todd is in a good place. He showed a lot of emotional maturity with regard to Susan, and was protective toward his mother and sister and I just really love it. The plot was a shrug emoji and I’m worried about Susan being set up to oppose/take down the Wrights but this show is so much less stressful than the rest!
Also Watching
Little bit of ER, “Space Seed” for my Star Trek podcast, but I’m too busy keeping up with new episodes and a very packed spring semester.
Mental Illness Sidebar
FBI: Most Wanted started with Remy in therapy and it was an exposition dump but the Q&A linked above suggests the therapist will recur. I am cautiously optimistic. I mean, it will still be “TV Therapy”, because the representation of realistic therapy would be boring, but watching Mr. Masculinity Remy Scott in therapy feels like a net positive.
Ship of the Week
Um. Lawrence (Matthew Wilkas) and Chet (Thomas Cadret) are having another baby on So Help Me Todd. I guess?
Show of the Week
Drunken karaoke on Death and Other Details but tbh it’s ER.
What are YOU watching?