Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 155

Years and Years 1.5: The Disappeared

Episode 1.5 of Years and Years couldn't be more tragically relevant to our lives right now in the United States, off-screen.  It was about the treatment of immigrants, their placement in concentration camps, and what that really means.

Here in the United States, the detention now of would-be immigrants in camps at our southern border, where children and parents are separated, and children are kept in deplorable conditions, including having so little room as needing to sleep standing, in holding areas without access to toilets, has been decried by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others as "concentration camps".  Trump and his minions have characterized these members of Congress as "socialists," and feigned outrage at the use of the phrase "concentration camps," which the Trumpists claim is an insult to the Jewish people, whose relatives were put in real concentration camps by Nazis in World War II.

First, I should say that I'm Jewish, and I wasn't insulted by use of the term "concentration camps" to describe the awful conditions in the Federal holding facilities.  No, I wasn't insulted, I was horrified to learn about these conditions.

In Years and Years, Vivian Rook, the wily, fascistic Prime Minister of Britain, actually says something which supports the position of the Congressional observers here now in the United States.  Viv rightly says that concentration camps do not necessarily have to mean death camps -- they can relate to any concentration of people or any thing in a given place.

But, given the nightmare scenario that is Years and Years, Viv soon uses the cover of non-objectional concentration camps indeed to do what the Nazis did.   Borrowing an approach from fascist regimes in real-life South America, the British government quietly begins "disappearing" (i.e., killing) the immigrants it's keeping in concentration camps.

In the season finale next week, we'll see if this means the end for Viktor.  In the meantime, score another powerful and horrifyingly relevant episode of Years and Years.

See also Years and Years 1.1-1.4: "Democracy ... Worn Out"

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Reflections on Mueller'sTestimony Before House Intelligence Committee, Wednesday Afternoon

Mueller's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, just concluded this afternoon, was stronger than his testimony before House Judiciary Committee this morning.

Schiff's opening and closing statements were both powerful, in contrast to Nader's, whose opening statement and questions were excellent, but whose closing statements were not memorable.   In general, Mueller answered more questions, and gave fuller answers.  He has a genuine passion about doing something to stop Russian interference in our electoral process. 

Unlike in previous years, Republicans do not share this, certainly not with the same passion.  This left the field open to the Democrats, who probed Trump's alliance as a candidate with Russians continuously and effectively.  In contrast, Republicans resorted to their typical tactic of yammering about straw-men, this time characters named Joseph Misfit and Kathleen Cadillac (well, that's what they sounded like).

But Russian interference with our last election, and the certainty that they will at least try to do it again, is no laughing matter.   If this afternoon's testimony wakes up more Americans to this problem, Mueller's appearance will have been worthwhile.

Whether this and the morning's testimony will empower the move towards impeachment, and/or the success of Democrats in the 2020 election for President and regaining the Senate, remains to be seen. My guess is it won't do much  for the first, certainly won't in itself lead to impeachment in the House, but may well have strong underlying effect in the next election, leading to Democratic success at the polls.

See also Reflections on Mueller's Testimony Before House Judiciary Committee, This Morning Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Reflections on Mueller'sTestimony Before House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday Morning

Some assessments of Robert Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, just concluded.

Mueller is clearly not a very fluent speaker, and all too often responded to questions by deflecting to his report, or just flat-out declining to answer the questions.   But there were several powerful responses from Mueller this morning:


He agreed with and even said, in response to one question, that there were a lot of "liars" amidst the President's cadres.   He even characterized some of those people interviewed in his investigation as "outright liars".Although he refrained from specifically recommending impeachment, he acknowledged that impeachment was a next step, in view of his insistence that he as Special Prosecutor could not indict a sitting President.He repeatedly did not back down from his insistence that his report did not "exonerate" the President, as Trump and his supporters repeatedly claim.He strongly backed the people who worked for him in his office as "non-political," despite Republican claims to the contrary.Most of the Republicans on the committee also came across as motor-mouths and nasty.  Their conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, etc came across as unpersuasive.  In contrast, the Democrats quoting from the Mueller, and getting Mueller to agree with their quotes, was an effective way of getting more details of the report out to Americans.

So, all in all, the morning session was very much worthwhile.  Mueller's testimony was valuable when he chose to answer the questions put to him.  But he should have answered more of them.

See also Reflections on Mueller's Testimony Before House Intelligence Committee, This Afternoon Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Stranger Things 3: Growing Up

An excellent third season of Stranger Things - in fact, my favorite of the three so far - which couldn't be more timely in this age of Trump and Putin.   In the 1980s, the Russians were the Soviets, but they occupy the same place in Western popular culture - adversaries - and so they make great villains along with the monsters that the breakthroughs to the other dimension engender.

And all of our team were in top form.  Dustin's as sharp as ever, this time with a girlfriend, though his friends doubt her existence.   El's superpowers are formidable, though not unlimited, and she's falling in love - with Mike. His sister Nancy makes a cool and on-target reporter, and a good couple with Jonathan.  As always, there are at least three plot lines developing at the same time, peopled with interrelated characters, and converging well, if bruised, at the end.

The most compelling relationship is between Joyce and Jim, though it's hardly as yet a relationship.

Joyce lost Bob to the evil in Season 2, and she's wary of a new relationship.  Jim's not exactly her type.  But there's a chemistry there, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching when he's apparently killed in the Season 3 finale - a grievous blow not only to El, his beloved daughter, but Joyce.

Except - well, I and millions of fans don't think he's dead.  I never think a character is dead unless I see his or her head blown apart.  Jim just disappears when Joyce destroys the portal.  And in the coda, we learn that those nasty Russians have an American prisoner (unseen).   Since no one else from Hawkins has gone missing, I'd say Jim's survival would not only be most welcome, but is wide open.

The series is growing up well.  It's good to see the gang getting beyond their board games.   Cars have replaced bicycles as the most onstage mode of transport.  The sexuality is handled in an intelligent way, including an important character who turns out to be gay.   All of this adds up to a great foundation for a Season 4, which I look forward to seeing as soon as possible.

See also Stranger Things 1.1-1.5: Parallel Horror ... Stranger Things 1.6-18: Lando to Fringe ... Stranger Things 2: Bigger, Better


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City on a Hill 1.6: Tony's Mother, Mayhem, and Family

I didn't get a chance to review City on a Hill (1.5) last week.  Actually, I was so upset that Kevin Chapman's quintessential cop character was killed that I didn't feel like writing a review - only kidding, I was unhappy the Chapman's character was killed, but I just got caught up in too many other things (like seeing and reviewing Jeff Lynne's concert in New Jersey).

But there's no way I could let episode 1.6 go by without a review, however busy I was.  It was the best episode of the series so far, in many ways.  Even Jenny's mother put in a notable appearance, showing she's in all of this for herself.  She's more than willing to help Jackie get back with Jenny, if Jackie can help his mother-in-law get back her license (she hit a school bus).  She's the most reminiscent I've of Tony Soprano's mother, in lo these many years.

Dean Winters also had a good spot, nice to see after his Law and Order SVU sojourn and his All State Insurance commercials as Mayhem.  In City on a Hill, he's the vehicle for Jackie being a  self-described "piece of shit" - but it's for a worthy cause, getting the AK-47 that was used in the killing of three guards in the right hands, i.e., the killer's.   But even this was set-up for the big event of the hour: as Jackie finally gets the bad guys within prosecutorial range, he receives news that his daughter is missing.

Jackie may not be that good to his wife, but he loves his daughter.  (I think he loves his wife, too, but that's another story.)  It was a great to see Jackie galvanized into action to find his daughter - including his well-taken brush-off of that annoying reporter - and although the result is not quite he and Jenny back together, it was a step in the right direction to see them under the same roof again, after her throwing him out in the same episode.

And episode 1.6 was firing on other cylinders, too.  Frankie's in need of cash to pay his mother's medical bills - robbers didn't easily get insurance back in those cruel 90s - and this puts in motion the beginning of another heist, great for the series if likely not Frankie.  And DeCourcy has an excellent night, too, standing up to a smack on the face by the sleazy priest.

The series has now really come into its own, and I'll see you here next week.

See also City on a Hill: Possibilities ... City on a Hill 1.2: Politics in a Cracked Mirror ... City on a Hill 1.3: One Upping The Sopranos ... City on a Hill 1.4: Enjoyable Derivative

 
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Big Little Lies, Season Two Finale: Too Happy Ending

Well, I thought this seven-episode second season of Big Little Lies was superb, if short - except the ending tonight, which was too upbeat.

Not that I don't like happy endings.  But this one was too much.  Celeste wins her case, completely.  Ok, that was welcome and justified.  Madeline and her husband renew their vows and everything is hunky dory.  That was a little much.  And it looks like Jane and her boyfriend are on their way to a great relationship, too?

Renata smashing the trains was the best part of the episode, along with Celeste standing up for herself in court.  But Bonnie finally coming to terms with her mother didn't make all that much sense.

And what was happening with the five going into the police station at the end?  Ok, Bonnie is confessing.  That makes sense.  But if she tells the truth, and the other four back her up, they'll all be guilty of obstruction of justice, in addition to Bonnie going down for manslaughter or murder, who knows.

Another episode, or at least another 30 minutes on this finale would have just the thing to explain why the five made the decision, what exactly that was, and what kind legal jeopardy the four will be in.   Ambiguity is sometimes just the thing to end a powerful story.  This time, it wasn't.

Maybe that's reason to get a third season going, with some answers and contexts for this super series, with super memorable characters.

See also Big Lies 2.1: Grandma On a Mission ... Big Little Lies 2.2: Perry's Progeny ... Big Little Lies 2.3: Together ... Big Little Lies 2.4: Bonnie's Deepest Motives ... Big Little Lies 2.5: Little Red Riding Hood ... Big Little Lies 2.6: It (Isn't) Over

And see also Big Little Lies: Big Good, Truly ... Big Little Lies 1.5: Multivalent Whodunnit ... Big Little Lies: Elvis and Answers

 
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The Loudest Voice 1.4: "We Create the News"

Another powerful episode of The Loudest Voice tonight - 1.4 - in which Roger Ailes lays bare the basis of fake news: "we create the news'.  I should say, the basis of real fake news - that is, news that is fake.  We need to make this distinction because Trump now daily bashes our legitimate news media as fake news - which would be fake fake news -  a tactic that comes right out of Hitler's denunciation of the press in 1930s Germany as the Lügenpresse (the lying press).  When you're trying to replace democracy with a totalitarian regime, it's wise to discredit and get rid of the people who can call you out on that and let the rest of the country know - the press.  (See my short book, Fake News in Real Context, for more.)

Speaking of Trump, we also hear on The Loudest Voice tonight that it was Aisles and Fox who gave the Trump the idea that Obama was not really born in America.  I have no idea if Trump got that paranoid right-wing notion from Fox or not.  And here it might be a good idea to mention, as I always do, that there's a big difference between documentaries and docu-dramas.   Even documentaries are not necessarily entirely truthful - they may leave out important facts.  But docu-dramas go even further - they actually make conversations up, conflate events, etc, to tell a more effective narrative.  (The excellent docu-drama Chernobyl, which I reviewed here in May-June, did a lot of that.)

The Loudest Voice certainly focuses only on selected Fox News luminaries - selected for whatever reason.   Tonight we saw a lot of attention to Glenn Beck.  A few weeks ago, it was Sean Hannity.  Both of these Fox News hosts are portrayed in detail by actors.  In contrast, Bill O'Reilly, who had Fox New's leading show for years, is mentioned as such, and shown (the real O'Reilly) briefly on the The Loudest Voice, but no actor portrays him and we see nothing of his back story.  Why not?

I guess all of this adds up to taking The Loudest Voice with a grain of salt, as we should with any docu-drama.  It tells a crucially important story, and is therefore worth watching, even if something less than the complete truth and only the truth shows up on our screens.

See also:  The Loudest Voice 1.1: Fox Launch ... The Loudest Voice 1.2: September 11 and After ... The Loudest Voice 1.3: Prelude to Trump


 

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The Rook 1.4: The Bristol Stomp

The best episode of The Rook - 1.4 - just on tonight, in which we find out lots of stuff about Myfanwy.

First and foremost: she knew that Bristol had something important to do with her forgotten past.  She thought it was the city (and it's a nice city, one of my favorite in England after London), but it turns out to have been the name of her shrink.  And as soon as they meet in tonight's episode, in the present, it's crystal clear (to audience, if not yet to Myfanwy) that they were having an affair.  Her earlier self has left her a note, in Bristol's possession (which he gives to her now) that tells her to run if she's in Bristol's presence.

It's not that the earlier self objected to having sex with him.  Apparently, it was pretty good (they do it again tonight).  It's that the sex unleashes much stronger super powers than she usually has.  Hence, Farrier, suspecting that might work, set the two of them up.

Meanwhile, we learn who wiped Myfanwy's memory:  Nazim, a young guy and an enemy agent.  His super power is wiping memories (I mentioned in my first review of The Rook that it owed a lot to Heroes).  But on whose command did he wipe her mind?

Farrier is emerging, not surprisingly, as a somewhat nefarious character.  She set up a trade with the bad guys - they would get Nazim, and she would be Myfanwy.   Her mind wipe was in some way Nazim's attempt to foil this trade?

Conrad will likely find out.  At this point, he's emerging as the most stable and reliable person in Checquy.

See you next week.

See also:  The Rook 1.1: Dickian Pastiche ... The Rook 1.2: Live Details ... The Rook 1.3: Gestalts


"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction,
The Silk Code delivers on its promises." - The New York Times Book Review
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Years and Years 1.1-4: "Democracy ... Worn Out"

My wife and I just watched the first four episodes of the British Years and Years on HBO.  It's about as powerful and caustic a depiction of the rise of fascism in our time - that is, so far in the short series (six episodes), 2019-2027 - as you'll find.  Which is, searing and gut-wrenching indeed.

As one of the lead characters in the Leeds family remarks - Edith - whose lives we follow in England into the near future, "democracy was a very nice idea for a while, but now it's worn out".   Although the action is in the U. K, where a demagogic woman is rising to power, the U. K.  and the rest of the world are driven by the United States, where Trump is not only President, as he is now, but re-elected in 2020, making this a horror story as well science fiction.  As a parting shot from his regime, he sends a nuclear missile to an artificial island off China and kills 45,000 people.  Pence is elected President in 2024.  These two events, as depicted in Years and Years, should be enough to make every American vote in 2020.   And the depredations continue.  A U. S. bank crash throws the world into recession.  Fascist regimes arise all over Europe.  Roe v. Wade is overturned in the U. S.  As I said, an all-too foreseeable horror show, if we don't vote Trump and the Republicans in the Senate out of office in 2020.

There are good technological touches in this near future.   Smartphones literally in your hand (as in, embedded).  The beginning of artificial eyes that can function as cameras.  And there are love affairs and break-ups and personal tragedies that I won't tell you about, except to say they're moving, because I've told you enough and I don't want to give everything away.

But I highly recommend this series - fascism as only the Brits can show it - and I'll be back with reviews of the two concluding episodes.

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Jeff Lynne's ELO at the Prudential Center

There are few groups who are almost as good as The Beatles (none are as good as them).  Jeff Lynne's ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) is one of those few.  Their string of hits through the 1970s into 1981 - "Can't Get It Out of My Head," "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic," "Livin' Thing," "Telephone Line," "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," "Don't Bring Me Down," and "Hold On Tight" are my favorites - are every bit as a good as part of the Beatles output (e.g., "Golden Slumbers," "You Never Give Your Money," etc), and this puts ELO in the rarefied company of the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones.

But Lynne after he left ELO also went on to do some extraordinary work.  He was a member of the Traveling Willburys supergroup with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty.  He produced and co-wrote (along with Petty) Orbison's "You Got It" (last record before his death).  He did the same for Petty's huge hits "I Won't Back Down" and "Free Falling".  And just to top it off, he produced Lennon's posthumous beauties with the Beatles, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" (hey, here's the beginning of reading I did at Readercon just this past Sunday of a new story I wrote about that song that's an alternate history Beatles tale).

Indeed, there was always something science fictional about ELO, with their other-worldly sounds, which is another reason I love their music.   Add to that Lynne's integration of media-theory themes into his lyrics - in "Telephone Line" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" ("insufficient data coming through") - and how could I not be crazy their music?  It connects to my three greatest interests in popular culture - the Beatles, science fiction, and the impact of media.

I was really looking forward to Lynne's ELO concert last night, and my wife and I were not disappointed.  Lynne's still in fine voice - indeed, better than ever in "Can't Get It Out of My Head" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" - and the performances and arrangements were top-notch.  "Sweet Talkin' Woman" (yeah, I've always especially loved that song) was replete with a cool electronically modulated "sweet talkin' woman" interspersed throughout the song, and Dhani Harrison (who did a good nine song opening set) singing his father's lead part in "Handle With Care," and Ian Hornal doing a fine rendition of the Orbison part.

Few of the greats of the 60s, 70s, and even the 80s can put on a show like this any more.  Paul McCartney is a remarkable and unsurprising exception.  I would say that Jeff Lynne, in terms of the great songs he wrote, produced, and still performs in fine voice, is a very close second.  Right up where he belongs.   Catch him if you can.



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