The Stop Button

The Big Door Prize (2023) s02e10 “Deercoming” [2024] D: Declan Lowney. S: Chris O’Dowd, Gabrielle Dennis, Ally Maki, Josh Segarra, Damon Gupton, Sammy Fourlas, Djouliet Amara. Oh, no, they’re doing another season. Or want to do another season. The season finale gives almost no one any good material (O’Dowd should fire his agent). The one exception (well, Aaron Roman Weiner’s always awesome), but other than him, only Crystal R. Fox comes through it. She even has a good arc, seemingly intentionally. Everything else? The dumps.

The Boys (2019) s04e01 “Department of Dirty Tricks” [2024] D: Philip Sgriccia. S: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara. Phenomenal season starter time jumps from last season’s cliffhanger to Starr on trial for murder, Urban circling the drain (as his superpower serum-caused tumor gets worse), and Alonso running the team. Oh, and evil politician and secret super-head popper Claudia Doumit is just about to be vice president. Beautifully paced, full of great setup for season arcs.

The Boys (2019) s04e02 “Life Among the Septics” [2024] D: Karen Gaviola. S: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara. Another superb episode. Alonso and Urban butt heads over Alonso’s leadership style, while Starr and his new consigliere (Susan Hayward, playing the smartest person ever… literally) try to turn reluctant super-son Cameron Crovetti into a full-fledged hero. Everyone else has lots going too, because the show’s great with its plotting. It even has micro-plots; so good.

The Boys (2019) s04e03 “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here” [2024] D: Fred Toye. S: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara. Everyone has a bad day. Urban’s bonding with Cameron Crovetti (in order to knock him out and kidnap him away from Starr). Moriarty finds out why the shitty white supremacist supe (Valorie Curry) hates her. Quaid’s still fighting with mom Rosemarie DeWitt. And Fukuhara’s hunting a supe-child trafficking ring, except Capone’s tripping. Literally. This season’s on fire.

The Boys (2019) s04e04 “Wisdom of the Ages” [2024] D: Philip Sgriccia. S: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara. Primo roosters coming home to roost episode. Redneck supe Valorie Curry stages a six hour telethon to piss of Moriarty, which the team tries to use to their advantage. Meanwhile, more with Quaid trying to save dying dad Simon Pegg. And then Starr goes back to his childhood home–a bunker lab–with an ice cream cake and questions.

The Boys (2019) s04e05 “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son” [2024] D: Shana Stein. S: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara. Quaid’s got a very big episode with reunited parents Simon Pegg and Rosemarie DeWitt. Very earnest, very good. Even if Pegg’s accent is still terrible. Then Urban and Alonso enlist an unlikely ally to get some superhero poison. The rest of the team nurses their various wounds on their horrifying mission. And Starr’s making moves. Lots going, all good.

Doctor Who (2023) s01e07 “The Legend of Ruby Sunday (1)” [2024] D: Jamie Donoughue. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Yasmin Finney, Michelle Greenidge, Susan Twist. Fantastic setup for the season finale has Gatwa and Gibson back on Earth (in the present) trying to figure out mystery woman Susan Twist’s identity. They’re sure it’s got something to do with Gibson’s still unrevealed origin. Great performances from Gatwa and Redgrave. It’s great to see Finney again, too. (How’s uncle?). Next episode’s going to be a doozy.

Doctor Who (2024) s01e08 “Empire of Death (2)” D: Jamie Donoughue. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Anita Dobson, Michelle Greenidge, Gabriel Woolf. Heartfelt, heartwarming season finale has almost too much heart, but also some absolutely terrifying sequences as the Mad Titan Thanos snaps his fingers and everyone turns to dust except Gatwa, Gibson, and Langford. Some more awesome acting from Gatwa as he tries to find the memory stones to set things right. Or something along those lines. Nail biter.

The Equalizer (2021) s04e06 “DOA” [2024] D: Paul Holahan. S: Queen Latifah, Tory Kittles, Adam Goldberg, Liza Lapira, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint. Latifah and company try to help a poisoned, turncoat sleeper agent (Edward Astor Chin, who’s far below par), navigating the winding, Chinese-fear mongering plot. Some big action (maybe the DOD film office wrote a check). Toussaint and Hayes plan on going to a protest, which the show waffles on until the actually surprising conclusion. Busy but blah.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014) s11e15 “June 16, 2024: Trump’s Second Term” [2024] D: Paul Pennolino. S: John Oliver. Oliver covers the very unfun idea of a second Trump presidency, focusing on how the Republican establishment is now ready to dismantle the federal government in a way they weren’t before. Definitely worth a watch (but he’s preaching to the choir, so it’s unclear why it’s a topic other than some good digs). The bakery follow-up is stellar.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s04e04 “One Man’s Poison” [2024] D: Kiel McNaughton. S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans, Rawiri Jobe, Joseph Naufahu, Joel Tobeck, Tandi Wright, Ben Black. It’s most hands on deck when Lawless investigates an obnoxious personal chef (Tobeck) accused of poisoning a client. Turns out Naufahu knows the accused; he goes undercover at the scene of the crime, with Vagulans in tow. The guest stars aren’t particularly notable, acting-wise, but the mystery is solid and the regular cast has lots of fun.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s04e05 “En Pointe” [2024] D: Sima Urale. S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans, Rawiri Jobe, Joseph Naufahu, Emily Wiseman, Miranda Harcourt, Josh Thomson. As far as revelations go, they foreshadow it all too soon this episode. But the investigating more than makes up for it, with Lawless looking into a ballerina being shot dead (in the back) with arrows. Vagulans has a great time going on assignment as an archery student, which leans Lawless poking around the ballet school. Often very fun.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s04e06 “The Good Oil” [2024] D: Sima Urale. S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans, Rawiri Jobe, Joseph Naufahu, Martin Henderson, Bill Bailey, Nicole Whippy. Pretty good episode even if only for the empathy. Sometimes it’s reluctant, sometimes it’s angry, but there’s so much of it. Lawless is looking into the murder of a coconut oil entrepreneur. The investigation shares time with brother Henderson returning for a subplot. The home stuff gives Lawless a just enough kick in the pants. She’s real good here.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s04e07 “The Widow’s Club (1)” [2024] D: Katie Wolfe. S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans, Rawiri Jobe, Joe Naufahu, Martin Henderson, Jacqueline McKenzie, Rodger Corser. First part of the show’s first two-parter (at most second) has Lawless enlisting brother Henderson into the gang. They’re investigating country club murders, so lots foVagulans’s to do before the third act additional subplot. It sets up the cliffhanger, but tired into everything else. Henderson’s fun, Lawless flexes comedy and drama, and Vagulans’s new solo field investigating’s delightful.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s04e08 “The Widow’s Club (2)” [2024] D: Katie Wolfe. S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans, Rawiri Jobe, Joe Naufahu, Martin Henderson, Jacqueline McKenzie, Siobhan Marshall. Solid enough season finale also gives Lawless the most character development in ages (seemingly to hedge the episode being a series finale too). Lawless and the gang have to clear her name from a (sort of) unexpected charge, which means solving the leftover mystery from last episode too. It’s mostly Lawless and guest star Jacqueline McKenzie staring daggers.

World of Giants (1959) s01e04 “Death Trap” D: Byron Haskin. S: Marshall Thompson, Arthur Franz. After a dirt cheap reopening series recap, tiny Thompson finds himself stranded in an unknown yard without his handler (Franz). He’s got to get to the nearby gardening shack to wait for rescue, except there are clumsy gardeners and hungry squirrels around. Actual Hollywood sci-fi director Haskin does the best job anyone has with the show so far.

World of Giants (1959) s01e05 “Gambling Story” D: Nathan H. Juran. S: Marshall Thompson, Arthur Franz, Marcia Henderson, Berry Kroeger, Ivan Triesault. Hollywood sci-fi producer Bill Alland takes over this episode and things are immediately different. And better. Better writing, better special effects. Same Thompson performance, however. And he gets to be mean to new regular, lady secretary Henderson. But Franz has never been better. And recognizable guest stars with speaking parts? It’s like a real TV show.