Well, that didn’t end the way I thought it might. Keeping with my tradition of avoiding spoilers, I’m not going to reveal any of the plot twists of the final episode of the first season of The Last of Us, but I did just want to leave a comment or two. Joel ended up having to … Continue reading The Last of Us Finale
Television
Rian Johnson’s Homage to Columbo
Broadly speaking there are two kinds of mysteries: closed and open ones. The closed form is what most folks think of when they think of a mystery story: a murder or other crime is committed and the reader (or viewer) doesn’t find out who the culprit is until the end when the detective reveals all. … Continue reading Rian Johnson’s Homage to Columbo
Quick Change? No, It’s Magic!
Here’s another clip from Penn and Teller: Fool Us from Season 7 Episode 8. When Léa Kyle began her performance, I thought, “Oh, she’s just doing a quick change act. They’ve been doing that stuff in the theater for years. Decades. Centuries. It’s just the wardrobe designer making tear-away costumes. No big deal.” I was kinda … Continue reading Quick Change? No, It’s Magic!
D.K.
Penn and Teller have a television program where they invite magicians of all kinds (professional, aspiring, young, old) to try to fool them with a trick that they’ve devised. If the guest successfully fools the masters, the guest is invited to perform in Penn and Teller’s long-running Las Vegas act. One of the joys of … Continue reading D.K.
Fleishman Is an Idiot
I tried watching Fleishman Is in Trouble, and I rather enjoyed the first episode. But the second episode grew tedious as it became increasingly clear that the protagonist, Toby Fleishman (portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg) was making increasingly foolish choices. Plus, I came to realize that we only saw Toby’s wife Rachel in flashbacks from Toby’s point … Continue reading Fleishman Is an Idiot
Crowned Again
Just finished watching the fifth season of Netflix’s series about the British royal family, The Crown, and contrary to what I’ve read elsewhere, I think it’s the best season so far. Once again I’m finding Charles to be a very sympathetic person, so I was surprised to see in the nytimes that many in Britain think … Continue reading Crowned Again
Crowned
I’ve been watching The Crown and just finished the fourth season, and I have to say that it’s changed my opinion of some of the royals. Not that I ever followed the royals very closely, or at all really. But I’d hear about them from time to time. When the British royal family comes up in … Continue reading Crowned
Walking Backwards
In the movie The Queen Tony Blair is given explicit instructions that when his audience with the Queen is over he is to leave by walking backwards. However, in the television series The Crown there is no mention of this and people leave the Queen with their backs to her all the time. I’ve tried to find … Continue reading Walking Backwards
Belker
As I recall, I started watching Hill Street Blues at the urging of Barbara Fowler, who worked in the same office that I did. She thought it was a show that I would like. And I think the first episode that I saw was season 4 episode 2, which happens to contain this classic Belker scene. … Continue reading Belker
Can You Name Him?
I’ve been watching the 1980s cop series Hill Street Blues, and in a couple episodes in the third season there is a young actor who became much more famous later on in his career. Can you name him?