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This Week: The Sandal Thing

This show is really good
...in which the Agents of Doux gab about the good, the bad, and the sandals that sparked their interest this week.

Josie Kafka: Has anyone taken my lovely advice and tried The Tourist on HBO, about an amnesiac Jamie Dornan in the Outback?!

Billie Doux: Josie, I totally intend to try The Tourist when I get HBO back. We dropped it right before we moved.

We were television-less and internet-less for three days, which I officially declare is too long, and I haven't tried anything new this week. I'm a terrible television critic.

Sunbunny: I’m halfway through season two of Bridgerton which I am LOVING. Much less problematic than season one. It’s enemies to lovers, slow burn, set in Regency England so it’s basically Pride and Prejudice with sequins and orchestral covers of Madonna.

I also started watching Our Flag Means Death which is so freaking funny. It’s totally better than the trailer and totally lives up to Taika Waititi’s standard. Was that a flag pun? Up to you.

Shari: Me too, Sunbunny. I don't know why I keep saying what I intend to watch the next week. It never works out that way.

Maybe I'll get around to The Gilded Age before the week is over but it won't happen until I get through Bridgerton. I have to say my favorite cover was an orchestral version of "You Oughtta Know."

Bridgerton, now 50% less problematic.

Victoria Grossack: I just finished watching the first season of Servant of the People, starring Volodomir Zelenskyy. I'll do a review on the first season after consulting with a friend who knows Russian and Ukrainian and who can fill me in on some of the background.

I hope to watch the later episodes, because the show was absolutely fantastic, but I understand the quality of subtitles in English may plummet after the first season.

Mark Greig: Speaking of shows starring Nicola Coughlan, I finally watched all of Derry Girls and loved every second of it, especially Sister Michael and her utter contempt for Father Peter and his stupid amazing hair. Can't wait now for season three to kick off. Shame it is going to be the last one.

Josie: I loved Derry Girls! I had no idea a third season was confirmed. That's excellent news. (How would the Derry girls themselves say it? "Sure that's good news for the wee show"?)

Sunbunny: It’s coming out April 12th! I’m psyched. That show always puts me in a good mood.

Billie: I tried the first episode of Moon Knight and found it mostly frustrating. Is this one of those shows that you won't understand if you haven't read the comic?

Moon Knight, but not the sandals scene.

An Honest Fangirl: I forgot that Moon Knight was coming out. I’ll have to watch that tonight.

Paramount also released Halo, the TV series, some time in the last week, so I also need to check that out. I have very, very low hopes and expectations? But I shall report back either way.

Mikey Heinrich: I accidentally had a tribute to Egypt last night and watched the premiere of Moon Knight and Death on the Nile, which is finally on HBO Max. Moon Knight I was also confused by (I also never read the comics) but for me it had enough of a 'you're supposed to be confused at this stage) vibe that it didn't bother me too much. Plus Oscar Isaacs (Is that how you spell his name? Too lazy to Google) is always watchable.[Editor's Note: No, that is not how you spell it.]

Death on the Nile is just stunningly beautiful. The shot where Jacqueline Du Belforte (Is that how you spell the character's name? Too lazy to Google) first walks up the steps into the hotel in Cairo is a moment that you just want to bathe in for as long as possible, it's just so damn gorgeous. The cinematography across the board is above top notch. [Editor's Note: No, that is not how you spell that one, either.]

Branagh's take on Poirot is a good one, although he does take a couple of liberties from the source material, which usually I'm very much against, but in this case all the changes except one work to the film's benefit. And the one that doesn't is a really minor point in the final scene, so it doesn't bother me too much. Plus it might arguably be setting them up for the next film being 'The Big Four', which would be such a delightful bonkers choice that I can't help but hope for it.

Also, I spent most of the movie being unable to remember Kenneth Branagh's name (and being too lazy to Google it), and could only think of him in my mind as 'Emma Thompson's ex-husband', which feels like a victory against the patriarchy. [Editor's Note: Yeah, that works.]

Mark: I have read the comics and even I'm not 100% certain what is happening on Moon Knight, but as Mikey said, that seems to be the intention at this stage and didn't do anything to spoil my enjoyment. Even Oscar Isaac's wonky London accent wasn't that distracting.

Mind you, it'll be a while before I can look at sandals without squirming.

Mikey: Oh my God, the sandals thing... yikes!

Mark: Going through security at the airport must be really awkward for him.

Samantha Quinn: The sandals thing almost made me turn off the show before it even started. I was a bit frustrated by the lack of any real answers, but I'll give it more time to fill us in since Oscar Isaac is awesome.

So I started Avatar: The Last Airbender this week, and I'm about halfway through season one. I am impressed by the way the series manages to balance some very dark and brutal world building with some genuinely light-hearted themes and characters. The three leads are far more engaging than the first episode led me to believe, and I'm looking forward to pushing through the season.

I had forgotten how much I disliked the back half of season two of Agents of SHIELD. Simmons out of nowhere starts acting xenophobic, Bobbi and Mack are being shady and the teleporting guy is just creepy looking. I vaguely remember how it plays out, but I didn't like how Skye was treated at all. As though she were some kind of monster. Overall, SHIELD's approach to enhanced people is kind of barbaric and closed minded.

I know Evil finished up last year but it doesn't feel like it did, and now season three is only a couple months away. Along with Umbrella Academy and The Boys and Obi-Wan Kenobi... looks like summer might be really cool this year (pun intended).

Sunbunny: Haven’t delved into Moon Knight yet. Now apprehensive about whatever the sandals thing will be. MORE ATLA CONVERTS!!!

Fangirl: Evil is coming back soon???? *runs to check the date* June 12. I got to stop slacking on reviews! (Roughly 8 weeks to do 23 episodes if I want to catch up in time? Don’t know if it’ll happen but it’ll be fun for sure.)

Why aren't you watching Evil?!

Mikey: I'm pretty sure the sandals thing is less than a minute and is literally the very first scene. If it gets difficult, it's very fast forwardable.

Josie: More Evil already?!

The sandals thing was so, so tough. I was eating food, too. It is quick, but now I'll think of it whenever I think of Ethan Hawke.

Mikey, thanks for the heads-up about Death on the Nile. I'm excited to watch it! I'm also excited to share a fabulous opening line from a review of the film on the new Gawker: "Kenneth Branagh, the leading producer of movies starring Kenneth Branagh, wants to make a go of playing Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot."

I love that line so much.

Shari: I finished Bridgerton. It was more of a straightforward romance than last season. Which was fine but it meant the Featherington's machinations stole the show for me. I watched the first episode of Moon Knight (thanks for the reminder, Billie). I have no idea how the show compares to the comic but I'm loving the deep dive into Egyptian religion. It's always been a fascination of mine. If they start discussing Ma'at (which they've been hinting at) I'll be a pile of goo. Uh oh, my nerdy side is showing.

The only other things I managed to watch were The Flash and The Endgame. Neither blew me away. Ah well, there's always next week.

Mikey: Oh, I finally finished Voyager, even have started in on Enterprise.

Shari: I finally saw Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was gloriously zany and insanely endearing. I can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard. Mostly while curled up in my seat and cringing. I know it's not in wide release but if you have the opportunity to see it do yourself a favor and watch it. You won't regret it.

CoramDeo: I’m seeing Everything Everywhere on Sunday and I cannot wait!

Shari: Oh, I can't wait to see what you make of it.

Now we hand it over to you, dear readers: What did you watch this week?

5 comments:

  1. I love reading this cold instead of putting it together -- thank you so much for doing it this week, Josie. The Bridgerton caption made me laugh out loud. And I clearly need to add notes from the editor when it's my turn again.

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  2. Mikey, I checked out Death on the Nile last night and enjoyed it very much, despite the presence of a few less than wholesome actors. Still like David Suchet's take on this one better though.

    Also got around to Moon Knight and I very much got the "be confused on purpose" thing. Which to be honest is pretty frustrating for an entire episode of television. And Oscar Isaac's accent needs some serious work. Unless it's part of the character that it's bad, which is possible.

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  3. Josi, I've started watching The Tourist on your recommendation. Victoria, your comment about subtitles reminds me that I spent two entire seasons of Money Heist thinking they were somehow going to escape by airplane, because they kept referring to the Professor's hideout as a hangar--I didn't catch what the Spanish word they were using was but it must be used more broadly than the English hangar.

    Sometimes, you know the subtitles are off without the language at all. I was amused in Ertugrul when an angry mob throwing rocks at a woman's tent were described as "tactless people."

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  4. Magritte, I hope you enjoy it!

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  5. I did really enjoy the tourist, though I'm not sure what they'll do with a second season. Obviously, he could try to learn more about his pre-accident life...but knowing what he does, should he?

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