The Americans Recap (S3 E9) Do Mail Robots Dream….

Today we are all mail robots! To read my snarky, but insightful recap of this week’s episode, head over to HNTP, your Wonkette’s all-growed up little sister what watches too much television. While I will concede that this was probably the best ‘sode of the season, I don’t get how the series, which is constantly RIDICULOUS, keeps getting a pass from most critics.

(And after you’ve perused everything at HNTP feel free to come back here and read more of my insightful posts, and if you’d like to thank me for my mostly unpaid work, do visit my Amazon page and buy a book. It’s like leaving a tip, but cheaper!)

Better Call Saul, S1 E8 — Rico Recap

Seriously, am I the only one concerned about the Catholicism of Saul and the revisionist politics of The Americans? If we’re going to take television seriously even if only as a popular form of entertainment, don’t we have to fixate occasionally on the message and not the medium? But what do I know? I only write snarky recaps over at Happy Nice Time People. You can see my latest there.

(And then if you want to thank me, go here and buy a book!)

How Did The Americans Distort History This Week?

Seriously, am I the only one who notices the revisionist history bs of The Americans, or just the only one still watching? And how come Rolling Stone, The New York Times and other big fans keep saying the show is great drama and giving it a pass? Somewhere in hell, J Edgar Hoover is wanking to every episode as they tell us again and again how the civil rights movement and every thing else was all a commie plot. So if you’re looking for truth and snark, head on over to HNTP and catch the only recap that will give you both.

(Once you get from HNTP, you can peruse this blog if you’d like. No donate buttons here, but nothing says thank-you like buying someone’s cheap ebook.)

Better Call Mike — A Better Call Saul Recap (E7)

After it turns out the rock upon which Jimmy built his church is made of quicksand, Mike saves the day. You can read my not-so-snarky recap over at HNTP which is the home of snarky recaps.

And here’s another NOT snarky thought about the show: Is anyone else really hoping that it doesn’t “end” with Gene watching old tapes of Saul commercials? That that we will return to Gene? Jimmy has so much potential to be GOOD, to be more than a “criminal lawyer,” and so far at least Jimmy is not the man who would be eager to be a drug lord’s consigliere, nor someone I would see advising a client to have someone knocked off in jail (and who knows a guy who knows a guy). So I not only want to know what happened to turn him into Saul (Gradual shift? Tragedy? series of Unfortunate events?) but beyond that I want REDEMPTION and I want it to be believable. Because folks, THAT’S entertainment.

(Again, and I can’t emphasize this enough, please visit HNTP to read the complete recap. Then you may come back here and peruse to your heart’s content. And also nothing says “thank you” like then going over here and buying a book.)

Manon — Another Opera with a Tragic Bad Girl

Given my love for La Traviata and all things related to Marie Duplessis, of course I wanted to see Manon at the Met. We made it to the second, of only six performances last Thursday night.

My verdict: C’est Magnifique!

To those of you still baffled by that first sentence and the connection between the two operas, allow me to explain. Verdi’s masterpiece, La Traviata was based on the play, Camille, which was based on the novel, La Dame Aux Camelias. The novel and play were written by Alexandre Dumas fils and were both based on his brief love affair with Mademoiselle Duplessis – an infamous Parisian courtesan who died of tuberculosis at age 23. In both the book and the play (and in most of the film versions), Marguerite Gautier (the heroine) receives a copy of the novel Manon Lescout from her lover. Dumas fils apparently really did give Marie a copy of Abbé Prévost’s novel. Continue reading Manon — Another Opera with a Tragic Bad Girl