Category Archives: hulu

Paradise S2 E4

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“A Holy Charge”

What a fabulously emotional and powerful episode. The first three episodes were strong, but this episode of Paradise was tremendous. It was surprising, engaging, emotional. I found myself tearing up at a specific spot in the episode.

One of my favorite things was that as Xavier and Annie were on their way to Atlanta, they came across some people in another wagon. If The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have taught us one thing, it is that the real monsters in any sort of post-apocalyptic world are other humans. Annie begged Xavier not to look at these people, just to ignore them, and not speak to them. Xavier greeted them anyhow.

Later, Annie goes into labor, and Xavier ran for help from them. I swear I have seen this scene before on one of the aforementioned dramas. However, Xavier returned with a group of these people who went right into helping with the situation. I loved the fact that this show led with the message that not everyone has become monsters. There are good people still around.

The show did a juxtaposition between two births: Annie’s baby birth, and the first birth of a baby in the Colorado bunker (it was great to see James Marsden, once again). I was so on edge the whole time expecting something to happen to one of the babies, and they both survived. I was so happy.

Then, the show threw a twist that fit right with those other shows. Annie died from the birth. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a major shock. This was where I was nearly crying. The scene where the horse would not leave her graveside was so great.

Excellent episode. Next week looks like the story will be taking off, big time.

Paradise S2 E1, E2, E3

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What an unexpected surprise. As I was going to Disney + this morning, there is was. An ad at the top of the page for Paradise season two, the first three episodes dropping together.

Paradise was a Hulu series from last year that was unexpected as well. Starring Courtney B. Vance and James Marsden, Paradise was a sci-fi series that was remarkably compelling and brilliantly set up. It was a sci-fi/apocalyptic show, a murder mystery and a thrilling political drama.

If I had known Paradise season two was scheduled for release in February, I had forgotten it. Three episodes, each about an hour long, starting off the second season was just was the doctor had ordered for a sick day at home.

“Graceland”

Of course, I had not expected the first episode to start off in Graceland, of all places. We get some details that told us how the end of the world came about. Supervolcano explosion, bringing cloud of dust across the planet. I am not sure I knew this detail from season one, but it made a lot of sense.

We are introduced to a new character named Annie, who was hired as a tour guide at Graceland, thanks to her knowledge of Elvis Presley.

We passed time, several years, with Annie while she survived at Graceland. We saw the other security guard at Graceland, who injured her leg on the first day, slowly die over the next two months. It left Annie alone.

That is… until a group of armed men arrived. However, they did not seem to be the typical armed men in this type of a setting. They were friendly, named after TV characters, and befriended Annie. Especially Link, whom Annie drew closer to during the time they all were at Graceland.

It did seem that this group had a hidden plan. They wanted to find the underground bunker in Colorado and kill Alex. They had told us that they were shutting down nuclear power plants, but I wonder how much of that is a cover story.

Annie refused to go with them and wound up heading out on her own, where she found a crashed airplane and an unconscious Xavier.

“Mayday”

The second episode went back to telling the story of Xavier and how he wound up unconscious on that ground. It also showed us how he and his wife met the first time.

The flashback took us to a time where Xavier had injured his knee and was in the hospital. He was placed in the same room with Teri, who had a surgery, a side effect of which made her blind. They bonded during the time when she was getting her sight back.

Xavier and Annie’s meeting was shown and Annie took him back to Graceland.

“Another Day in Paradise”

Then episode three focused in on the show’s main antagonist, Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond, and her recovery from the gunshot of last season and the further development of assassin Jane Driscoll. Jane is a terrible person and, in the course of this hour, assassinated the new President of the US and framed Agent Robinson for the job.

Billy Pace showed back up in a flashback working for Sinatra. He was told to get the rights to the company owned by a man named Miller. Miller refuses and there is an emotional standoff at his home, beside the bed of his comatose wife, Alex. Is this the same Alex from before? Miller gives his wife a lethal dose of something, and as she died, he asked one favor of Billy… don’t harm the boy from his class that was such a genius and who he felt like a father to. Billy kills Miller and ends up leaving the boy alone.

The boy turned out to be a younger Link.

Wheels are turning here.

Man there are a lot of things happening in this show and I am so pleased that it is back.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E10

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“The House Always…”

Another season of Only Murders in the Building wrapped up with a finale that revealed the killer of the beloved doorman Lester and tied all the loose ends up neatly.

It turned out that Mayor Beau Tillman, played by Keegan-Michael Key, killed Lester, and it was his finger that had been severed and placed in Oliver’s shrimp. The billionaires knew about the whole thing too. They were in the game to find the finger and that person would receive the casino contract from the city.

After they were arrested, it seemed as if the building was saved, though I am not 100% sure how that happened.

I do love this show and there were so many wonderful moments in this finale as they were capturing the Mayor. Charles shimmying up the pole and sliding down like a stripper (instead of a fireman) was a hoot.

Introducing the “New mob” to the “Old Mob” was another fun thing. That group of men was ridiculously funny.

The show also set up the next mystery for season six as we hear a new podcast from Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) and she seems to have be killed… just outside the Arconia, disappointing everyone that she was not “in the building.” A final twitch of the body brought her hand just inside the gate… allowing the trio to investigate the new case.

Love this show. I can’t wait for the next season. This finale was much better than the penultimate episode.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E9

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“Lestr”

Okay, the ninth episode of season 5 was actually my least favorite episode of the season. Watching the tenants packing up and getting ready to move out was depressing and the distance between Oliver and Charles was uncomfortable and, seemingly, out of nowhere. I was not a fan of that.

It was neat to see Nathan Lane return to his role from earlier in the show. It was fun to see him (and his son),

There was too much of Lestr in this episode. I am not a fan of the robot.

Turned out that Lester, the real doorman, was the one who killed Nicky Caccimelio, with the elevator crank in an attempt to save the building. That was a good twist.

Who killed Lester? That is still up in the air, although they point a finger (quite literally) at Nicky’s mother, Nonna. I’m not sure she is the final killer, but I do expect that to lead to the final resolution in the finale next week.

How will they stop the Arconian from becoming a casino? I don’t know but I hope to find out.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E8

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“Cuckoo Chicks”

It’s Ladies’ Night on Only Murder in the Building and the mystery gets a new twist.

Mabel, Loretta (back from waiting with a delay at the airport) and Williams went to a “Ladies’Night” at the secret room in the Arconia in an attempt to figure out what happened and to get a confession out of Camila White.

Meanwhile Charles and Oliver went above ground in an attempt to convince their neighbors not to sell their apartments to Camila. At 49%, Camila only needed one more apartment to set her casino plan into motion.

However, none of those things work out.

Thank heavens for Loretta and her “psychic” abilities. She got a ton of info from Camila, via flashbacks in an intriguing format, that helped point to some new facts.

And Lester’s wife, Lorraine joined in and picked out a major clue from the, admittedly small, clue box. It led to a video of our new suspect, Randall, the new doorman. The video showed Randall picking up the bloody elevator crank, which Loretta discovered in Nicky’s office, and taking off.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Charles have a therapy session in their attempt to convince therapist and neighbor Dr. Stanley. After some deep character introspection, they were able to convince him not to sell. Sadly, it was too late as escro closed at 12 and it was 12:15.

Camila has the 51% she needs, so what is heading for the final couple of episodes? I don’t know, but I do love this series. It always keeps you guessing. This week we have a bunch of Oscar winners plying their trade together (four Oscar winning actresses).

Only Murders in the Building S5 E7

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“Silver Alert”

I can’t believe this season of Murders in the Building is up to episode seven already. It has gone very quickly and it has been fabulous.

We returned to the billionaires as suspects as Oliver, Charles and Mabel got a tip from the Mayor (Keegan-Michael Key) who dropped a hint about Bash Steed.

The episode kicked off by seeing Oliver seemingly confused and scared, coming up to an unknown couple in a country area. There had been a silver alert sent out about a man with a purple scarf.

It was a weird beginning, but it made total sense later after we went back over the events that happened leading up to this.

Our podcasters arrived at Bash Steed’s mansion and met his oddball son. Oliver’s belief that everything was like a horror film made this all the funnier and would lead to his deserting of the case.

They found Bash Steed, Camila White, and Jay Pflug playing Operation, which was strange. Apparently, they play games to challenge each other and take out their frustrations.

They split up again, and Charles’s interactions with Bash were sensational. Steve Martin and Christoph Waltz have amazing chemistry with each other and they bounced the dialogue off each other brilliantly.

Charles and Mabel are able to recover the finger, which was what the billionaires were playing for. Turned out that it was about who would get to have the casino bid. Jay told Mabel that the finger was more dangerous than she knew.

Great cliffhanger too as we learn that Camila White was the person who had made the offer for Oliver’s apartment because she wanted to turn the Arconia into the casino.

This was a fabulous episode and it was excellent seeing the three back together facing off with the three billionaires once again.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E6

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“Flatbush”

Meryl Streep returned to the Arconia after a tragedy saw her apartment burn down. While she was processing the loss of her things, she jumped right into the case of who killed Lester.

Last episode, it seemed as if Lester’s wife Lorraine and Nicky’s wife Sofia were working together, giving us a new pair of suspects. However, this episode also basically cleared them as Oliver and Loretta followed them.

The episode was a trip down memory lane for Oliver, who had grown up in Brooklyn. It was some wonderful work as he strolled through past flashbacks of him as a child. It led him to the stage in an old theater where he had learned his love of the theater. These scenes between Meryl Streep and Martin Short are fantastic and help give us even more understanding of them as characters.

Meanwhile, it was good to see Donna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) involved more with the group. She was going to pick up the finger for testing, only to find that the finger was gone. It had been stolen. We find out that all the footage had been tampered with and that the company that ran the security was owned by Bash Steed, one of the billionaires (Christoph Waltz).

Waltz had been catfishing Charles as a “Priscilla” and digging for details of the investigation. He ended with a text saying, “You’re such a smartypants. Now I need to come hunt you down.”

Mabel and THE made up as this felt like a rushed storyline. Maybe there will be more to it as the season moves along.

I am excited to get back to the billionaires who have not been seen or mentioned much since they pulled the fast one over Charles, Oliver and Mabel.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E5

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“Tongue Tied”

Only Murders in the Building continued to build the mystery surrounding the murder of the doorman at the Arconia, and we focused on another aspect this week. Last week it was more about the CEO billionaires, where as we returned to the part including Téa Leoni’s Sofia Caccimelio.

Charles, Oliver and Mabel tried to find info from the employees of the Arconia, which turned out to be just as eccentric as they could be.

Charles is taking testosterone and it is affecting him in hilarious ways. Oliver is considering moving out of the Arconia, and this upset Mabel when she discovered it.

The L.E.S.T.E.R. robot got thrown out of the window, landing in the exact spot where Lester the Doorman was found dead. This came after Oliver tried to bring the staff and the residents together in a building meeting. That was never going to work because… NO SNACKS????

After an encounter with Sofia in her van, Charles lost his cell phone with all of the info on the case. They rushed to follow Sofia, who arrived at the end of the episode at the home of Lorraine, Lester’s widow in a wild twist.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was back with a little more to do, and I loved her inclusion. It was weird that the twist last week with the billionaires was never mentioned this week, but it was still a fun show.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E4

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“Dirty Birds”

This is a great show. What an awesome episode.

The arrival of the three billionaire into the main story was handled so brilliantly. Oliver, Charles and Mabel dropped a promo for the upcoming podcast season hinting at the billionaires were involved in the crime they were investigating.

They dropped it as an attempt to get the attention of Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman).

They had no idea what was going to happen.

All three of the billionaires, Jay, Sebastian “Bash” Steed and Camila White, showed up at Oliver’s apartment for a 7 PM dinner party (that Oliver, Charles and Mabel were not expecting). They broke apart into three separate conversations (which were all hilarious… especially Christoph Waltz).

The billionaires had the final twist to the OMitB crew as they sign a new podcast deal with a podcast group that… are owned by the billionaires. The contract that they signed says they can not do a podcast that hurts the owners of the company. An example of playing chess while Oliver, Charles and Mabel ae playing identifying the bird sounds game.

I love how the story is starting off this season. I laughed out loud multiple times. I had a smile on my face for the whole episode. Christoph Waltz chopping parsley was absolutely hilarious. And Regis!!!!

Only Murders in the Building S5 E1, E2, E3

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“Nail in the Coffin”

“After You”

“Rigor”

I am so happy that Only Murders in the Building is back with their fifth season already. Where most streaming shows take 2-3 years in-between seasons, OMitB is back just over a year from season four.

The show n Hulu kicked off by dropping the first three episodes of the new season and I absolutely loved them.

Episode one had a lot of stuff going down as we started laying the breadcrumbs for the fifth season’s mystery. Longtime doorman Lester was found dead in the fountain at the Arconia. However, the police have dubbed it an accidental death, a fact that made Charles, Oliver and Mabel both unhappy and suspicious.

As it turned out, there are some really big questions about what happened to Lester.

  • Was it the mob? We know the wife of the missing mobster Nicky “The Neck” Caccimelio came to try and higher the crew last season to find her missing husband.
  • Nicky ends up dead at the local laundromat which begs the question… why are there never any employees at this laundromat?
  • There are corrupt cops involved as they are reporting Nicky’s death as they are told.
  • A finger showed up in the leftover shrimp from the wedding. We find out whose finger it is at the end of episode three. Jay Pflug, billionaire.
  • The mysterious speak easy room beneath the Arconia is where the three billionaires meet. Very curious for Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz and Renée Zellweger, who play these billionaires.

The second episode gives us a whole backstory for Lester the doorman and showed us how he got wrapped up in the mob. This wrapped the history of the Arconia with the entire cast. Lester did the actual narration as well, flashing back eerily to scenes from the first episode.

We got a glimpse into the personal issues of our main trio for this season. Mabel seemed happy with her life, but an old friend moving into the Arconia appeared to challenge her thoughts. Charles is afraid that he is going to die alone and it manifested itself as the dead body of Nicky talking to him. And Oliver has guilt over the way he treated Lester and is beginning to see his own negative traits.

I laughed out loud multiple times in episodes 1 and 3. The show is extremely funny and wonderfully written. Episode two had moments too but it was more of the intriguing backstory.

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are amazing together and they carry this show. The writing is so good too. This is one of the best shows around and I am so pleased that it is back.

The Bear S4 E9, E10

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“Tonnato”

“Goodbye”

These final two episodes of season four show exactly why The Bear is constantly nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmys.

That is sarcasm. This is not a comedy series for me. It is a full on drama that might have some comedic aspects at times.

Nothing showed that more than these final two episodes which were full of amazing moments and performances that were off the charts.

First, in “Tonnato,” we get an amazing set of scenes with Carmy and his mother, Donna. Jamie Lee Curtis may as well make some room on her mantel for another Emmy because this was unbelievable. The performance was so raw and powerful and brought a tear to my eyes. She was as vulnerable as you could be in this scene while expressing her overwhelming guilt and regret over her behavior and choices. Jeremy Allen White was an exceptional scene partner as he pillowed her performance while not taking away from it. Both of these characters felt on the precipice of an emotional breakthrough, though at any second, it could fall apart. It was a tremendously powerful scene.

Then, in the finale of the season, Carmy, Sydney and Richie (with Natalie eventually joining) spent the episode out back of the restaurant screaming at each other over the impending departure of Carmy from The Bear. Carmy’s decision to “retire” has been forming over the last few episodes as he realized that he did not love what he was doing anymore and that he was only serving as a roadblock for the restaurant’s success.

With the backdrop of the ticking clock, Carmy’s decision may have felt like a betrayal to Sydney and Richie, but he seemingly was able to convince them that he was not just dropping them. The ownership agreement, half for Jimmy, half for Sydney, Natalie and Richie, was something that Sydney insisted on (including Richie).

Carmy’s confession that he had attended Michael’s funeral, even though everyone thought he had not gone, was massive for Richie. You can see why these three actors in particular have been so in demand lately for other projects. They are truly some fantastic performers (no pun intended as Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Richie will be Ben Grimm, the Thing, in Marvel’s Fantastic Four in a couple of weeks).

I thought the fourth season of The Bear was far superior to season three, which felt like a down year to me. I loved the way Carmy was going on the self-improvement trip. I really wanted to see the scene where he gave the green sweater (which he found at his mother’s in episode 9) back to Claire, but hopefully that scene will make it into a future seasson.

This season left plenty of plot threads dangling, as the ticking clock struck zero at the end of the final episode. Was that the end of the restaurant or will it be able to be saved as they were starting to put things together, albeit slowly.

The Bear S4 E8

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“Green”

Several storylines that have been running all season continue to move along in a simple, but entertaining episode of The Bear.

Sydney has a nightmare and ends up deciding to stick with The Bear instead of going to the new restaurant. This arc has been going all season long and feels a little anticlimactic here. Perhaps there is another twist coming on this. Plus, there is a shot with Ayo Edebiri on the phone with Chef Adam Shapiro that was perhaps the worst looking green screen I have ever seen. It was so distracting. Sydney looked as if she was floating on air in front of Lake Michigan.

Carmy continued his personal growth as he prepared himself to take a photo album to his mother’s house. This was very tough for Carmy and the episode ended with him knocking on her door. My favorite scene of the episode included Carmy talking on the phone with Claire. There was so much hope in that scene. Carmy, you have to find that green sweater!

Richie was having great scenes at the restaurant throughout the episode. He is so much more likable of a character than he was in the early seasons.

Sugar and Computer made looking at restaurant data compelling. Again, there is some hope for the Bear, but it is still a longshot.

Two more episodes for season 4 are available on Hulu. I should be able to get this show finished over the next few days.

The Bear S4 E5, E6, E7

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Season four rolls along…

“Replicants”

I had a feeling that something was happening to Sydney’s father when he gave her that call at the beginning of the episode. A heart attack left Sydney shaken and all of us scared for Sydney.

Natalie bringing the baby to the restaurant brought all kinds of feels for everyone involved and there was nearly no other moment that was as sweet as Carmy holding his baby niece for the first time as Natalie left the room.

Neil trying to get as close to the baby as he could was hilarious, as was protective mother Natalie. When Neil asked to hold the baby, Natalie asked him when he last washed his hands. A couple days ago was probably the answer she was expecting.

It was cool to see Luca again. Will Poulter fit right into the cast perfectly after guest starring a couple of years ago.

Rob Reiner returned again to help with the business plan for Ebraheim.

“Sophie”

We get more on Sydney’s father’s heart attack and the episode is really showing how much everyone at The Bear loved her. Claire finds her at the hospital and comforts her as Sydney was waiting for word. The dialogue between them is one of the strengths of this show as everything is done so well.

Sydney’s father is going to recover and the rest of the episode was basically prep for the wedding with Tiff and Frank.


“Bears”

This was the best episode of the season so far and one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It was the wedding of Tiff and Frank and the party afterwards where all of the family descended on each other.

All you can expect is yet another Berzattos crash and burn, and yet, this turned out to be a wonderful night with some remarkable scenes without the over-the-top drama that one would expect.

I absolutely loved the interactions between Richie and Frank. The tension was thick between them, but they were able to put anything side to help Eva, who was scared about doing a dance with Frank. All I could think of during this scene was “How big is that friggin’ table?” as more and more members of the Berzattos clan, both related and honorary, found their way underneath the table. It turned into a giant “What are you afraid of?” share time to help Eva feel better. I loved this scene even if it felt like there were enough people under the table.

Other awesome moments/scenes:

  • Donna and Sydney talking. Sydney got stuck with Donna as Carmy got taken off. The scene was both wonderfully caring and deeply sad at the same time. Jamie Lee Curtis is a tremendous actor and she conveyed multiple feelings with single looks.
  • The feud between Natalie and Francie went full boar as they yelled at each other but ended the day hugging as friends. Apparently they were a thing at one time.
  • The scene between Uncle Jimmy and Tiff was sweet and dealt with Tiff’s concerns that the divorce with Richie would lose her the Berzattos family.
  • As Carmy hid in the kitchen, Lee (Bob Odenkirk) showed up and they had a deep discussion over everything. The dialogue played it as if they were on the edge through the whole time, but that they both wanted to clear the air.
  • Sydney and Richie dance at the wedding and he asked her about the other thing she wanted to tell him. She said it was a decision she had to make. Richie asked if she had made it and she said she only really had one choice. Not sure what that meant.
  • Stevie, played by John Mulaney, was hilarious through the entire episode. His line about all of the Berzattos attending the wedding was laugh out loud funny.

There was so much wonder here and the amount of chaos was limited to a normal wedding, not a Berzattos meeting.

This was such a great episode.

The Bear S4 E3, E4

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“Scallop”

“Worms”

Two very solid episodes of The Bear are next in their season four on Hulu.

“Scallop” featured Carmy, dealing with a bunch of his own issues. There is a tremendous scene between Carmy and Marcus outside on a smoke break. Their dialogue between them was sharp and filled with evidence about how important they were to each other. Carmy is slowly straightening his life around by seeing the energy and effort given by the staff of the Bear.

Rob Reiner guest starred as Albert Schner, in the episode with Ebraheim, who had asked for his opinion as a mentor about the window for “The Beef” which had been doing great business as a window behind The Bear.

This episode finished with a long overdue confrontation with Carmy and Claire. I would be lying if I did not say that I was yelling at the screen about this scene, waiting for Carmy to just apologize. While it did not feel resolved, I think it is the first baby steps in getting these two back together. Splitting them apart was the start of Carmy’s downward spiral and getting them back together is so needed.

Then in “Worms,” we focus in on Sydney and her decision between staying at the Bear or moving over to Shapiro’s. She has been split over this choice dating back to the last season and she is reaching the point where she is needing to decide.

She goes over to her cousin’s place. Her cousin was played by Danielle Deadwyler, who had had some of the top performances over the last few years. If you have not seen her in Till, do yourself a favor, get some tissues, and watch it.

Sydney winds up watching her cousin’s daughter, TJ. TJ and Sydney have a really nice episode bonding and talking over their own troubles. Sydney tries to use an analogy to get TJ’s opinion about where she wanted to work. She pretended to talk about sleep overs, but, we find out in the end, TJ knew it was about a job.

Sydney called Shapiro and started to talk about paperwork, making us think that she was ready to make the choice to leave the Bear.

These episodes are just nice, calmer character episodes, keeping the craziness to a limit. I like the way this season is going so far, but I expect fireworks coming up soon.

The Bear S4 E1, E2

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“Groundhog Day”

“Soubise”

The Bear is back with a literal ticking clock.

The review is out. It was not a good one and the backlash hit the crew of the Bear in many different ways.

Uncle Jimmy and Computer came with an ultimatum about the restaurant. A clock plugged into the wall with a time that, when it reaches zero, the restaurant must be closed.

The first couple of episodes the characters feel like they are grieving over a loss, but still have hope for something to turn around.

Carmy, in particular, seems to have made a decision. He has looked on the inside and realized how much of an ass he was last season and has taken steps to draw himself back. I think he finally realized that he cannot exist in that chaos, something that Sydney calls him on in the nicest possible way.

Season three was easily my least favorite season of The Bear there was. It took some trips that I just did not enjoy much and watching Carmy self-destruct was not an enjoyable experience. Even after saying that though, the show had its moments and I am looking forward to the next season.

Season four kicked off feeling strong, even if nothing much really happened. These first two episodes helped show me why I enjoyed Carmy so much and pictured him as less of the screaming loon as I remember form season three. His apology to Sugar for not yet coming to meet the baby was the perfect realization for him.

It feels hopeful, while still having that looming failure hanging over everyone’s heads. We’ll see how things go.