The Yellowjackets put away their knives—for the season, at least
And Bridget Everett gets a long-overdue starring vehicle with the premiere of Somebody Somewhere
TV Lists Yellowjackets
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, January 16. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Yellowjackets (Showtime, 10 p.m., season one finale): “And the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrives.” That’s from Leila Latif’s review of last Sunday’s penultimate episode of Yellowjackets. And if, reading about the context of the scene in question from this universally lauded series makes you think our designated Yellowjackets reviewer is a little ghoulish, well, then you probably haven’t been swept up in the riveting twists and turns of Yellowjackets. As the multiple narratives of the titular wilderness-stranded soccer team converge for this no-doubt bloody and gripping season finale (the show was recently renewed for season 2), the now-grown survivors find their decades-long denial/coverup of just what happened in those unforgiving Canadian Rockies crumbling around them, while we will finally see exactly just how Lord Of The Flies their desperate teenage selves got back in 1996.
Or, rather, we’ll likely see exactly what creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson choose to show us as this wrenching tale of survival at all costs plays out to a likely season-ending cliffhanger or two. (Sadly for those who take huge fan theory swings, Lyle has definitively denied that teammate Jackie is somehow a time-traveler—those anachronistic journal entries are either a goof or… something else.) With actors Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis and (as those actors’ younger selves), Sophie Nélisse, Sammi Hanratty, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sophie Thatcher all vying to hoard the most well-earned praise as this first season comes to a close, Yellowjackets’ coming second season at least promises that the past isn’t done with the Yellowjackets yet. Which is as good for us viewers as it is likely terrible for the surviving Yellowjackets.
Regular Coverage
Euphoria (HBO, 9 p.m.)
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO, 10 p.m.)
Wild card
Somebody Somewhere (HBO, 10:35 p.m.): Fans of comedian, singer, cabaret legend, and all-around unstoppable force Bridget Everett, rejoice. The multi-hyphenate entertainer gets the prestige HBO treatment as she stars in this dramatic-comedy-musical series about a woman stuck back in her Kansas hometown after the death of her sister. And while Everett gets to show off her dramatic side as an adult woman pulled back into her dysfunctional family dynamic under the worst possible circumstances, our own Danette Chavez says that the series, in which Everett’s lonely and bereaved character is introduced into the local music scene by a new friend (Jeff Hiller), provides “the ultimate showcase for this actor-comedian-singer.”
14 Comments
TUAYPCW:I’m dismayed The AV Club ignored the returns of the Beeboverse shows aside from the delightful LOT. Superman & Lois had a much more lowkey return than anticipated. Naomi’s pilot was boring, but I dislike Bendis to begin with. Batwoman used a lot of character assassination to circuitously get to the original Poison Ivy.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2022/01/13/bombogenesis-brings-back-the-beeboverse/I finally began Centaurworld. This musical horse isekai doesn’t lend itself well to binging.
I feel the Beeboverse has been spinning its wheels ever since the promise of the Hall of Justice/Super Friends/Gleek.
Covid really upended its plans to do big integrated crossovers. We definitely need to see Gleek somewhere though.
Centaurworld is one of the few gonzo cartoons I can’t watch multiple episodes in a row of. I haven’t figured out why.
I think it’s both too goofy & too dark simultaneously so it confounds my gluttony mechanism.
Tell Us About Your Pop Culture Weekend Listening to the podcast The Villain Was Right last week inspired me to rewatch Hulu’s Palm Springs, which was both lighter and way heavier than my memory of the movie. I agree with their (the podcast hosts) conclusions about the number of time travelers.My oldest decided to watch Raya and the Last Dragon Saturday morning, and then spoiled the whole movie for me like five minutes in. It was good, and I feel so bad for KMT that Disney hasn’t made her the star that I see.My wife and I finished watching season 4 of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and with the exception of the actual series finale, I am at the point where I know nothing going forward. I can tell you I’m very tired of seeing commercials for insurance while watching this show, but also I’m too poor to buy ad free Hulu.
It sucks that AV Club is gonna ignore most of the CWverse shows now (honestly surprised they kept Legends after kicking Superman & Lois to the curb, ignoring Naomi & continuing to ignore Batwoman. I guess the analytics told them some shit or whatever). Open to suggestions of places to read a more comprehensive set of reviews!I watched the first three episodes of Peacemaker. It was fine. It’s very much James Gunn formulaic – big, dumb, loud, soundtrack that guy you knew in the late 80s who liked hair metal but wasn’t a metalhead would listen to, etc. I’m pretty sure it’s not a good show, but it made me laugh a number of times and it’s easy enough to throw on in the background while doing other things, so I’ll keep going.The Station Eleven finale was really lovely. We could go on and on about how it’s not the same story as the book in pretty substantial ways, but the story that it did tell with those characters in that world was a beautiful thing of its own. For as much as the most recent version of The Stand completely mangled the source and became a garbage fire, this sorta more gently sculpted the source into something recognizable but new in a way I really enjoyed. I’m extra happy that Miranda, my favorite character in the book, was played so terrifically in this by Danielle Deadwyler, who I now want to be in everything.
Finally, I watched Aubrey Plaza’s festival darling Black Bear. To me, it felt like it was made by a film student who is hyper-obsessed with Mulholland Drive, but doesn’t have Lynch’s talent, has no money for locations, and could only convince one biggish name actor to work for scale. I think Aubrey Plaza’s performance was good, but I don’t think the movie was particularly good.
I was mostly bored by Peacemaker other than the music. That I actively and intensely detested. I kept wondering if they had original music made for the show and intentionally really bad, or if those were real bands that actually put out records on actual labels. So aggressively terrible. Other than that (major) element that I hated, I was mostly neutral. Actually, no wait… I also detested the father. (I know I’m supposed to hate that character. I hated him and his story line so much more and differently than intended, though.) That character made me remember how Watchmen tried to do essentially the same thing, but there it worked brilliantly. Here, no. Man, that’s a loud and ugly show.
They are all actual bands with actual songs that actual labels put out. The fact that anyone willingly put Quireboys AND Firehouse into a TV show boggles my mind. I think maybe we’re supposed to mock his taste in music?
“I think maybe we’re supposed to mock his taste in music?” Yes. I think so. But the problem is, we have to listen to it. And it’s torture. And not funny. The show has the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
It doesn’t matter. I get that I’m not the audience for the show. I’ll stick with brilliant Landscapers, and head-scratchingly terrible but fun Beforeigners, and very funny Sex Lives of College Girls, and idk what else. Not Peacemaker with its headache songs, at any rate.
Peacemaker made me think of The Tick, but with gore, profanity and tits.
It’s definitely that plus the “OMG is that what I think it is?!” photo from Adebayo’s girlfriend in the third episode.
Seriously, what happened to the Naomi recap? Didn’t the What’s On Tonight say Jarrod Jones was doing one?
Bridget Everett is someone I’ll follow just about anywhere. I’m looking forward to her new show! Not that I’ll watch it today… I’ll wait till sometime when I can stream it at my convenience. It’s weird in a Netflix/Prime world to have shows on HBO at a time. They need to drop that nonsense. (Or I’ll just basically think of it as being available anytime after tonight. Just a slight mental step that seems entirely unnecessary in the 2020s.)