Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 78

Station Eleven 1.1-1.3: "Looking Over the Damage" Well Worth Seeing

With Apple TV+'s run of superb science fiction -- Foundation, Invasion, and Finch -- temporarily on pause, it looks like HBO Max has picked up the slack with a powerful new series, Station Eleven, a new Matrix movie up next week, and the first half of Dune this past October.

The first three episodes of Station Eleven introduce us to a complex, perilous, beauty of a story. It's a story about the passion and agony of creating art, about bringing a story into being. And, oh yeah, it's a story about "the end of the world," due to a super-virulent (super-all-too-familiar) flu that kills over 99% of the population.

So, well, almost the end of the world (shows how we’ll we’ve actually done in our real, off-screen world), and therein lies the heart of Station Eleven. A heart within a heart, a play within a play, because Station Eleven is not only the name of this series, it's the name of a book that Miranda (outstanding performance by Danielle Deadwyler), a major character in this series, wrote. (A much more appropriate meta than what Facebook says it's becoming, I would say.) And the book is no mere prop for a meta-title. It's something that "ruined my life," as said by Miranda and her husband.

The series unfolds in a mode first perfected in Lost: now, or close to now, when the extinction-level pandemic strikes, and twenty years into the future, when we see how a small group of survivors struggles and (at this point) perhaps triumphs in a way. When we're in the now, we see flashforwards (the plural of Rob Sawyer's excellent term); when we're in the future, we see flashbacks to the present. This makes the story a little difficult to follow, but it's worth that price. Station Eleven, in just three episodes, has already unfolded a rich, memorable tapestry of characters and humanity, as they "look over the damage," another one of the mantras of the series.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

It's already left us with all kinds of questions. Why, exactly, did Kirsten (well played by Mackenzie Davis, with great facial expressions that in themselves tell the story) try to kill that guy (Prophet?) in episode 1.2? Because he said Kirsten and her troupe were "monsters"? There must be more to that stabbing, but that's good grist for the continuing narrative.

I'll also mention that this series -- based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel that I haven't read -- is evocatively photographed and accompanied by outstanding music, including Dylan's "Don't Think Twice." I'm not going to think twice about continuing to watch this vivid series, and I'll be back here with reviews.

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Published on December 18, 2021 13:08

Narcos: Mexico 3: Lives and Deaths

I really enjoyed the third and final season of Narcos: Mexico, and regret that there won't be another season, devoted to Chapo. Yeah, I know there have been other series and movies about Chapo, but his story deserves to be done up in the inimitable Narcos way, especially his ingenious escape via tunnels, which (as I've mentioned before ) I've always admired. When I was kid living in the Bronx, I used to think that the best way of escaping police if they were after me was to dig a big tunnel under the Hudson and up to the Catskills. Fortunately, I didn't commit any crimes and they never came after me,

Back to Narcos: Mexico 3, it was great to see Pacho (good acting by Alberto Ammann) again. He's the only character to appear in every season of Narcos and Narcos: Mexico, and that's quite an accomplishment. The character and the real person had a hand in the drug traffic in both Colombia and Mexico.

Alas, Pacho ends up dead. As does Amado (good acting by José María Yazpik), the Lord of the Skies. Though for Amado, there's a hint at the end of the season that maybe he actually escaped from the hospital plastic surgery, or with that plastic surgery that changed his face. In real history, Amado definitely died. But the circumstances -- exactly what went wrong in that hospital -- are not clear. In Narcos: Mexico 3, we see his lover -- the love of his life -- walking back to her house after taking a stroll on a beautiful beach in Chile. We see two glasses of wine on the bureau. Who was that second glass for? And we see a model plane, obviously suggestive of the Lord of the Skies. So ... who knows what that scene was suggesting, and, who actually knows what happened in real history? Maybe they did plastic surgery on some recent corpse to make his face look like Amado, while the real Amado, not looking like himself after successful plastic surgery, left the hospital and got to Chile unscathed.

The rest of this final season was good, too, hammering home the message that the U. S. barely knew what it was doing in its war on drugs. I had to laugh in one of the concluding episodes when Barry McCaffrey, U. S. drug czar, says in a real newsclip that we had the situation well in hand. I know Barry, he's currently a commentator on MSNBC, and if I ever have a chance I'll ask him how he felt about that clip in Narcos: Mexico.

But drugs, though the U. S. badly bungled our declared war on them, are no laughing matter. And the whole Narcos series stands as a powerful, brilliant portrayal of how and why that war went so wrong.

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Published on December 14, 2021 10:54

Succession season 3 Finale: Tom

I've been watching, immensely enjoying, but not reviewing Succession season three. I think it's the best season of this superb series so far. And I thought I'd say a few words about the finale, which was the best episode of this season.

In the climactic (too weak a word) closing scene, Shiv wonders who told Logan that she and her brothers were coming by to prevent Logan from selling the company to Mattson. I'd say that has to be Tom.

Last week, in the second strongest (too weak a word) episode of this season, we see Shiv come to Tom and say let's make a baby. This would have been wonderful news for Tom, except in the precoital banter, Shiv says all kinds of deflating things to her husband, including that she doesn't really love him. Shiv may think that he likes that, because it's worked in the past. More likely, it's worked in the sense that Tom was able to swallow it and still perform.

Now Tom has taken a lot over the years. He absorbs it, and trudges on by dishing at least some of it out to poor Greg. But some of Shiv's contempt for him had to have stuck. And my guess is, consciously or unconsciously, he saw a chance for himself and took it -- by alerting Logan about what Shiv, Ken, and Roman were about to do. Typically for Tom, he likely didn't think out all the consequences, or didn't care. He was just glad to be able to do something which, he hoped, would put him in a much better position with Logan, and therein Mattson. That, and what must have been the immense pleasure of payback to Shiv.

In a very real sense, Tom is Shiv's Achilles' heel. Her keen intelligence for some reason was blind to the damage she'd been meting out to Tom, and what he might do about it. But will Tom really benefit from what he did? If his life is true to form, probably not.

We'll see how this 21st-century Shakespearean tragicomedy plays out next season.

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Published on December 12, 2021 20:22

Hightown 2.8: The Devil His Due and Therapy for the Soul

Well, having just seen Hightown 2.8 on Starz, I've got to give the devil his due.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Frankie realizes the police are watching everything he does. More than that, he realizes something is very wrong, that Jorge being dead -- which he's come to realize -- is just the tip of the iceberg of the destruction he's facing. So ... he "changes things up". He cancels Charmayne's i.e., his shipment of drugs due to arrive at Hyannis Airport. And the result?

Jackie's plan is foiled.Leslie is not going to work with Jackie again (Leslie doesn't appreciate her time being wasted).Charmayne is scared to death.Renee still has feelings for Ray, but she's going to be even more compliant to Frankie, in all respects.Now Frankie (played just right by Amaury Nolasco) couldn't have known that some of this would happen -- he didn't even know for a fact that the police were going to interdict his drugs and nab him at the airport -- but his shrewd instinct paid off. One thing we can count on for sure: Frankie's not going to be taken down easily.

About the only person not really affected by Frankie's move is Osito, who had the best story so far in his arc this season. Despite his ferocity, he's a sensitive guy. Atkins Estimond delivers the perfect performance in his conversation with Janelle. She's not only a physical therapist. For Osito, she's a therapist for the soul.

See you back here with more about the Cape next week.

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Published on December 12, 2021 16:55

Podcast Review of Dexter: New Blood 1.5-6

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 226, in which I review Dexter: New Blood 1.5-6 on Showtime.

Written reviews of Dexter: New Blood 1.5 and Dexter: New Blood 1.6

Written review of episodes in all eight seasons of Dexter (the original series):

Reviews of Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent ... Dexter 8.2: The Gift ... Dexter 8.3: The Question and the Confession ... Dexter 8.4: The "Lab Rat" and Harry's Daughter ... Dexter 8.5: Just Like Family ... Dexter 8.6: The Protege ... Dexter 8.7: Two Different Codes? ... Dexter 8.8: "A Great Future" ... Dexter 8.9: The Psycho Son ... Dexter 8.10: Watch Out, Buenos Aires ... Dexter 8.11: "Not the Old Dexter" ... Dexter Series Finale: Solitude, Style, and a Modicum of Hope

Reviews of Dexter Season 7.1-3: Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 7.4: The Lesson in Speltzer's Smoke ... Dexter 7.5: Terminator Isaac ... Dexter 7.6: "Breaking and Entering" ... Dexter 7.7: Shakespearean Serial Killer Story ... Dexter 7.8: Love and Its Demands ... Dexter 7.9: Two Memorable Scenes and the Ascension of Isaac ... Dexter 7.11: The "Accident" ... Dexter Season 7 Finale: The Surviving Triangle

Reviews of Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra: Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love

Reviews of Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ...Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain

Reviews of Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

Reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

Season 1: First Place to Dexter

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Published on December 12, 2021 14:45

Dexter: New Blood 1.6: Breaks and Arm Breaks

Well, it really hit the fan in Dexter: New Blood, the sixth episode in what is the best reboot I've ever seen (or at least, easily tied with Battlestar Galactica). All the characters are performing at their peaks.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Dexter is sharper than ever. His explanation to Angela about why he adopted the Jim name and persona was perfect. He told her the truth about everything other than being a serial killer. There was therefore so much truth in what he told her, that the sardonic voice in his head -- his voice, not Deb's -- was silent. I also liked that he intervened and stopped Kurt from killing Molly the podcaster. The thing to remember about Dexter is that, other than his being a serial killer, he's a good guy (and, actually, since he kills bad people, one could argue that the serial killer part of Dexter is good, too).Harrison hasn't killed anyone yet, as far as we know, but I don't think so. He seems too stunned when he gives into his dark passenger and breaks the wrestler's arm (who had it coming, since he head-butted Harrison). He's pretty clearly a kid struggling with his dark impulses, as his father realizes. The question is whether Dexter will be able to prevent Harrison from going completely over to the lethal side (I'm guessing he won't). And on another Harrison topic: creds to him for spending the night in bed with Audrey. She, by the way, is the only one he's been honest with about wanting to hurt people.Kurt has now been frustrated in his serial killing three times in a row: 1. Last week, he shot his victim in the eye (not the way he wants to kill his women captives). And this week, 2. The young woman's boyfriend shows up at the wrong time, and 3. Dexter interferes with Kurt's move to kill Molly. There must be a lot of pent-up rage and desire to kill in Kurt at this point.Angela turning to Dexter, not Jim, for help at the end was good to see. But that may not be entirely good for Dexter. Angela is calling upon Dexter's expertise as a forensic specialist. But when Dexter goes down that route, he's getting much closer to his own killing instincts than when he was Jim. Angela could well sense some of that. On the other hand, since Dexter now knows Kurt is the serial killer who got Iris, Dexter can easily work with Angela to nab Kurt -- which Dexter wants to do anyway, since he doesn't like Kurt's influence on Harrison -- and that could keep Angela too occupied to suspect Dexter of his past .... Nah, thinking about that, it's just a matter of time until Angela begins suspecting him.See you back here next week!

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter

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Published on December 12, 2021 12:27

Review of Invasion season 1 Finale

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 225, in which I review the ninth episode of Invasion on Apple TV+.

Earlier podcasts about Invasion:

December 3, 2021 Review of Invasion 1.9 ... November 30, 2021 Review of Invasion 1.8 ... November 20, 2021 Review of Invasion 1.7 ... November 13, 2021 Review of Invasion 1.6 ... November 6, 2021 Review of Invasion 1.5 ... November 2, 2021, Review of Invasion 1.4 ... October 26, 2021, Review of Invasion 1.1-3

Written blog post review of Invasion Season 1 Finale is here.

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Published on December 10, 2021 00:20

Invasion Season One Finale: Peering Through the Opaque

There's much less talking and no real combat in the Invasion Season One finale up on Apple TV+ today (yes, there will be a second season, the series was renewed two days ago). Our main characters all over the world, still in various stages of profound shock, after what happened last week, struggle to understand what's going on. Much like us, the viewers, on our other side of the screen.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

As I said last week, the victory felt too easy. We knocked all the interstellar invaders with just one shot, however powerful? Not very likely, not likely at all.

And, of course, as our point of view characters on Earth begin to come to -- that is, come to the edges of an understanding -- we find that the invaders are indeed not gone. Some begin to glimmer and pulse back to life. Or maybe they were never dead. And/or maybe there are other more powerful invaders pulling their strings.

The ruptured human relationships are to some extent repaired. Not completely. And Trevante and the love of his life see that glimmering interstellar ship coming down, landing, in the water off the beach. Just as Heinlein intended. It's a beautiful last scene. What does it mean? What do the beings in that ship want of us, of Earth?

Like all good finales that don't finally conclude a story, it's too soon to tell. There's certainly an intelligence in that shimmering ship that we haven't seen before. As I said early on in my reviews of this series, obviously it took some kind of massive, extraordinary intelligence to get any species out of outer space onto to this Earth. So that glimmering ship, which looks like something from a place we've never been, just as it should, should be no surprise.

But for all its translucence, its intentions remain opaque. In the second season, perhaps those intentions will become more clear. But I have a feeling that we're just at the beginning of an impossible long-form Haiku poem that has no ending. Good. More episodes to watch.

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Published on December 09, 2021 23:09

"The Soft of Your Eyes" added to 5th Spotify playlist the past few weeks

"The Soft of Your Eyes" (from Twice Upon A Rhyme) 26th on the list

And here are the other four: You May Sweetly Ask ... 70s (first half) ... NTS Heaven and Earth Magic ... Thanksgiving 2021

And here's one from back in April: Cosmic Country Outsiders

Thank you!

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Published on December 09, 2021 12:09

CSI: Vegas season 1 Finale: The Nose Knows

An excellent all-hands-on-deck to what I hope is just the Season One finale of the revived CSI aka CSI: Vegas series on CBS tonight.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

Everyone working on the same case, just one case, and that's always the most fun. The case, of course, is David Hodges, who has been kidnapped after a false video confession from him has been extorted. That's what we the audience know. The judge is still convinced by the evil Wix. The goal of Sara, Gil, and Maxine is to get the evidence that will convince the judge.

The lead to that evidence is olfactory -- as in perfume, as in scent. Sara and Gil identify the scent and therein the hotel that has it. But when they search it from bottom to top, there's no sign of Hodges. What did they miss? Scents change over time. (We could say, scents are change, just as cents are change.) (Sorry.) But our top-notch CSIs can figure out what the scent was, and therein where Hodges is now. And we get a happy, champagne-popping ending. Sara and Gil celebrate it not with a toast, but a ride on an effervescent roller-coaster.

A strong, concluding episode for the season. And a glimpse of what I hope we'll see next season -- a serial killer. CSI still has spunk and savvy. Its devotion to truth and evidence, to science and reason, is refreshing in this cynical, often lying world of ours, where a former President lies about winning the election, and he and his adherents pretend that a deadly pandemic is no big deal. Right, I sometimes mix politics into my reviews, and I'll be back here for sure with a review of the next season, if there is one, and that's the truth.