What is reality television? The genre that started life on MTV with The Real World and grew insanely popular with Survivor has morphed into shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Duck Dynasty, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. These latter shows star “real” people, in that the leads are playing themselves, but feature scripted scenarios with improvisation rather than true real-life stories most of the time.

One of the most fascinating things about Nathan For You, Nathan Fielder’s brilliant comedy/social experiment/magic trick, is the way that the show is always aware of it’s reality, as well as its artificiality. The fact that there is a camera crew present in each scene is never lost, and explains why so many of Nathan’s subjects are willing to go along with his patently absurd ideas. But the subjects themselves are absolutely real, and the way that they react to Nathan’s plans with attempts at optimism (for the cameras) makes for a lot of the show’s humor.

Continue reading Nathan For You Season 3 Review →

(This review begins without spoilers, before delving into some of the finer details of the season below. There is a spoiler warning midway through, so feel free to read the beginning of this article without any worries)

Halfway through season 2 of The Leftovers, I wrote this article detailing the improvements that the series writers had made over the initial season. At the time, I wrote that “The Leftovers has proven to be one of the most fascinating shows on television,” but that “those who want a clear, concise, central narrative, or who desire answers to all of their questions, should stay far away from The Leftovers.” Since then, HBO has aired the remaining five installments of the season, and my opinion on the season as a whole has only risen. Not only is this still a fascinating series, but its second season may be one of the all-time great seasons of television.

It’s also worth noting that my comment about a “clear, concise central narrative” is only a half-truth now. One of the biggest surprises this year is how brilliantly all of the various plot-threads DID manage to come together. Stories that would have been just fine staying mysterious or disconnected have actual purposes that tie into a greater whole and are paid off beautifully at the end of the year. Somehow Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta, and their team of writers manage to pull this off despite sticking to a singular character POV for nine of the ten episodes, keeping us wholly engaged in the moment while building a more serialized arc in the background. It’s a structural miracle, giving the viewer several complete, immensely satisfying story arcs while still leaving The Departure itself as a mystery.

Continue reading The Leftovers Season 2 Review →

Despite its first season ratings success, Gotham had trouble finding itself in the first year. Its tone was all over the place, oscillating between campy and wacky humor aimed at younger viewers and a more seedy, violent nature that would seemingly prevent those same viewers from watching the show. The initial pacing bored, as well, leading to a midseason finale that wrapped up arcs that were seemingly intended to continue throughout the season. This left poor Jada Pinkett Smith stranded on a show as a “regular,” despite her character being so completely finished with her narrative that the writers literally shipped her off to a remote island for the majority of the second half.

Fox knew that the show had lost some of its audience, so they branded season two as something of a reboot. Hence the beginning of “Gotham: Villains,” a tag that was frequently used in the marketing but never actually appeared on the show. Despite a seeming gulf between marketing and the actual writers, Gotham did begin to show some growth this year, even if it’s marginal.

Continue reading Gotham Season 2 Part 1 Review →