When You Realize You Are Slowly Being Obsoleted As a Parent
🖐 The Friday High Five #118
Another Friday, another Mullet edition of the High 5.
Business in the front: The 5 things I loved this week, free for all to enjoy.
Party in the back: A deeper exploration of something on my mind, for supporters.
Business in the front
Andor: S2 Episodes 6-7
Vibe: Riveting tragedy with crackling dialogue
Deets: At this point, my refusal to keep up with Andor’s insane “3 episodes a week” release strategy has meant that I basically can’t visit my usual internet haunts for fear of spoilers. I probably should spend less time aimlessly drifting online anyway, so no great loss.
I think what’s most surprised me about season 2 is how much of it centers around the planet Ghorman. From the first batch of episodes, in which we spend time on at least 5 planets, I expected each 3-episode installment would be like parts of an anthology. Connected, but only just. But the Ghorman of it all has provided a single, riveting through line. And now the third batch of episodes largely centers on Ghorman again, as many of the show’s players coalesce there for different but related reasons.
Pinning Andor’s superpower down to one thing is impossible, but the show’s careful escalation of tension is a masterwork worthy of mention. The heist of an Imperial shipment instigated by the Imperials for the sole purpose of giving the fledgling Ghorman rebels false confidence shouldn’t invoke tension at all. It’s a prearranged conspiracy. The transport is automated—there’s not even a token Imperial on hand to scoff. And yet, the theft is dripping with tension. And legitimate stakes.
When Andor is all said and sadly done, it’ll have done more to move Star Wars forward than anything since The Empire Strikes Back. I can only hope Lucasfilm is taking notes.
Streaming on Disney+.
Silo: S2, Episodes 1-3
Vibe: Post-apocalyptic good bad fun times
Deets: The second season of Apple’s adaptation of the Silo series of books, which take place several hundred years after nuclear armageddon has destroyed the world. Silo is a dark thriller about humanity’s remnant, who live in vast underground shelters.
This season there’s an A and B plot. The first—and far more interesting story—follows Juliette as she finds shelter in an abandoned silo and tries to stay alive. The second plot concerns the occupants of her original silo, who are all in a tizzy over Juliette’s refusal to not clean the external camera and her subsequent disappearance over the hill.
As much as I like Tim Robbins, I don’t give a crap about that other silo.
I’ve read the books, so I know this season is fated to dance between these two storylines. The switch felt less annoying in the books. Maybe because the next Juliette chapter was only 10 minutes away; meanwhile, the entire 60-minute second episode is about the other silo.
Also: When will we as a society accept that Common can’t act? There’s no charisma, no spark, just a kind of wooden stubbornness that he wields like a club. There are so many better choices. Even if Apple was dead set on casting a rapper-turned-actor, Method Man is sitting right there.
Streaming on Apple TV.
The Rewatchables on Star Wars: A New Hope
Vibe: The Ringer + Star Wars = Gold
Deets: I have been a Bill Simmons fan since the ESPN Page 2 days. Love how he blended pop culture, sports, and humor. In a lot of ways, I’ve tried to mirror my own stuff on his general sense of irreverence. The one knock I have against him is he doesn’t like Star Wars. He doesn’t just dislike it; he doesn’t get it. Which somehow feels worse.
For May the 4th, Bill and the revolving cast of The Rewatchables podcast screened A New Hope. And surprise of all surprises—Bill loved it. Only 40 years too late, Bill, but I’ll take it. The Empire Strikes Back, when?
This podcast is 3 and a half hours long. It’s incredible.
Bad Monkey
Vibe: Vince Vaughn Vince Vaughning it up in the Florida Keys
Deets: An adaptation of a Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name, Bad Monkey is a crime comedy about a disgraced detective (Vaughn) forced to work as a restaurant inspector who finds himself embroiled in a murder-mystery. The premise gets even stupider as the show goes, but that’s part of the charm—the show’s in on the joke and plays it for laughs.
One could pretty accurately say that Vaughn has gotten the most juice out of playing a variation of the same character for almost 30 years: the charming, slightly smarmy motormouth man-child. So in that sense, a series set in Florida in which Vaughn can indiscriminately chew pastel-colored scenery is fitting—he’s old enough to consider retiring the act, but still spry enough to pull it off. He might just need a nap afterwards.
We’re only a few episodes in, so I can’t totally vouch for this series yet. Unless you’re also a fan of Vaughn’s freewheeling style—in that case, Bad Monkey is an absolute delight. Also: Watch out for Jodie Turner-Smith, who plays a Caribbean voodoo ritualist. It reminded me of her performance in The Acolyte, and not just because of the spiritual nature of the roles. Turner-Smith totally pulls off ‘otherworldly bad mama jama’.
Streaming on Apple TV.
Hacks: S4, Episodes 4-5
Vibe: Friends again, sorta, I guess
Deets: Season 4 continues to play with my heartstrings, by which I mean Deborah and Ava remain at odds. The seeds of a redemption are there, and season 4 has a couple of moments where reconciliation seems nigh, but nigh never comes. This is more or less the ongoing story of Hacks—something will always tear these two women apart, but they can’t stay that way. They’re solar objects locked into a gravitational spiral which will just as likely destroy them both.
The 4th episode is my favorite of the season. Struggling with a sudden case of stage fright—nothing like getting that thing you wanted your whole life, and having to face all the doubt and angst and imposter syndrome in front of millions of viewers—Deborah takes someone’s advice while having a panic attack and imagines her live audience is not there. Suddenly it’s just her telling jokes to Ava. Which, in a broad sense, is what this show has always been about. These two women bonding over their shared sense of humor.
It’s a sweet moment, and then it’s over. I don’t think Deborah will ever tell Ava about it. But we know, and that’s almost as good.
Streaming on Max.
Party in the back
“The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home.” ~ George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
I remember the first time I heard those words. The north remembers. I’m not ashamed to admit I started crying with mingled hope and disbelief.
I first came to A Song of Ice and Fire—better known to non-nerds as the book series that became HBO’s Game of Thrones—in 2004, the year my son was born. I have memories of lying in bed, cradling him in one arm while trying to balance the enormous book in the other.
If the first 4 novels have a single unifying theme, it’s this: If your last name is Stark, you’re gonna have a bad time. The Starks are the heroes, the honorable characters in a world gone to shit. And yet they continually took it in the balls. Even the females. In fact, they got it worse than the men. Some fates are worse than death.