Borrowed from the library on DVD.

Annihilation (2018): Very atmospheric science fiction/horror that doesn't say anything new, or really anything much at all, leaving the viewer to put together the pieces it offers as it slowly reveals the threat posed by a phenomenon known as "the shimmer." Concerned about contagion and self, but, again, the work of worrying about what it means it is left to the viewer. With long periods of silence as the characters explore the environment inside the slowly expanding field of weirdness, much of this movie is left to the viewer, making it an interesting challenge. Stars Oscar Isaac as a handsome man who says nothing of importance, Benedict Wong who speaks entirely in questions from inside a hazmat suit, and an all female team on a mission to figure out wtf is going on: Natalie Portman shooting a very big gun with deadly accuracy, Gina Rodriguez being charismatic and queer and super hot, and Tessa Thompson playing a quiet scientist so deeply she almost vanishes from the screen, a real feat when usually she'd be giving Rodriguez a run for her money. Jennifer Jason Leigh is also there.

Contains: violence, blood, body horror, gore, animal harm, references to suicide and self harm.

The Good Fight (2017-2022): There is something suspicious about porting Diane Lockhart, whom I love, over to a Black law firm and bringing all her white friends (and Marissa) with her. I liked the pivot, initially, as a response to the whiteness of The Good Wife, but she has watered down their brand considerably, and every time we're on a Diane plot, the screen is filled with white people, and the new Black characters aren't given as much screen time or opportunities to distinguish themselves. Like the two partners are basically the uptight lady and the guy she's disappointed with? BUT CUSH JUMBO IS HERE. Which honestly makes up for a lot. However, the episode about abuse on social media platforms and TOS violations with the in-person appeals process made me incandescent with rage as that is not how any of this works. It was a joke, completely unrealistic, and clearly just an excuse to have a bunch of Black lawyers (two of them name partners) and Diane sit at a table while absorbing abuse from incels and white nationalists. DISGUSTING. Okay. Still pretty mad about that, and being forced to listen to that garbage. I stopped watching for several weeks, and then finally picked it back up again.

Season two replaces the uptight Black lady with a new Black lady who is immediately given more stuff to do—and an actual personality (and is also disappointed in the male partner, her ex-husband)—but I'm so tired of Maia's problems, and it seems the show is too because at some point she breaks up with her girlfriend but the show does not show or even mention this.

Season three has some fun animated shorts with a Schoolhouse Rock vibe with original songs by Jonathan Coulton animated by Head Gear Animation. They break into the narrative as explainers on concepts like impeachment, NDAs, and troll farms, and while I don't feel like they really fit with the tone of the show, I liked the reach, and they're carefully placed so they don't interrupt the emotional momentum of a scene. Otherwise, I'm glad we're finally done with Maia's shit, and it's amazing Michael Sheen could be a skeezy Roy Cohn-style lawyer and also Aziraphale. The man has range.

Season four's abrupt tonal shift felt like the show had been cancelled and then picked up by another network a year later, but as far as I can tell that was not the case. Like, wtf is going on, why does this suddenly have a completely different look and feel. And then the first episode of season five had me wondering if I'd accidentally missed an entire season, so, ditto. But it did, finally, address my initial concerns about the show—Diane was making the place too white—but it took them too long, making it feel like their hand was forced, not by the narrative—which had occasionally mentioned the problem, but never actually engaged with it meaningfully, only in a "yeah we see it" way—but by some outside force, a Doyleist response rather than a Watsonian one, finally making me wonder how many Black writers this show had over the years. (A quick search turns up this New Yorker article from 2022 that says, "Four of the eight writers are Black." It also says that Delroy Lindo and Cush Jumbo leaving sparked "a cunning meta-plot" about the firm's Black lawyers grumbling about Diane's rise to power. Called it.)

Then season six is like, HERE WE GO. Andre Braugher shows up, and the moment the elevator opened, I was like, "Oh, this is going to be good." AND IT WAS. The POWER and CHARISMA that man wielded, and could turn on and off, god. It was so good to see him again. I had no idea he was going to be here. And then all the explosions and protests and police were really uncomfortable and lead to an impressive, and unsettling, duplication of the opening title sequence because had they been planning that all along? Or were they just really lucky that they had the time and space to steer the show in that direction? John Slattery's presence also made me nervous because I didn't want Diane to cheat on her husband (again), but WHY ELSE would you put John Slattery on a show?? (Couldn't stop thinking about the time a friend in the entertainment industry saw John Slattery out in the wild and, having momentarily lost her mind, winked at him. AMAZING.)

In the final episodes, I found it tasteless to have two straights who'd only known each other for three weeks get married in the same episode that the Supreme Court overturned same sex marriage, but I hope they're happy because Marrisa deserves it. And, finally, I'd watch Liz and Ri'Chard run a law firm all week. They are so interesting together, with chemistry and conflict and respect and different backgrounds and a loaded history and similar goals and why did it take six years to make that happen. Easily my favorite season of the bunch, and how often can you say that about a final season?

In conclusion, while I liked the characters and can see how this show might have been affirming to watch during Trump 1.0., during Trump 2.0 it's actively too much like the real world and I watch the screen to get away from the real world, so this was a bumpy ride.

Contains: racism, recreational and pharmaceutical drug use, gore, swearing, riots, riot police, gun violence, rape threats, white supremacy, Donald Trump.