The Stop Button

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e02 “Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate” D: Jac Schaeffer. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, David Payton, Debra Jo Rupp. Oh, so the show’s going to be about a misfit coven of witches risking life and limb to get their magical powers back? In what feels like the actual pilot, Hahn and Locke form the coven, trying to outrace bad guys after Hahn. Hahn’s great, LuPone’s delightful, everyone’s solid plus. Maybe now the show will get started.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e03 “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials” D: Rachel Goldberg. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp. A strange episode–it’s not a good episode for Hahn; she’s the butt of the joke more often than not–but it’s a rather good episode. The rest of the coven–Zamata, Ahn, Lupone, Rupp–get one good showcase or another. Locke’s still support but growing. And it’s the easy best episode. Goldberg’s direction is excellent.

FROM (2022) s03e04 “There and Back Again” [2024] D: . S: Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Eion Bailey, David Alpay, Elizabeth Saunders, Scott McCord, Ricky He. While there are a couple surprises this episode–including a mythology one–it’s mostly just water treading. Moreno is almost back to town, but the normies won’t listen to her about the monsters. And, McCord’s decided it’s time to learn his origin story. Plus Perrineau is trying to do intel for his offensive. A few moments, but eh, padding.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s04e07 “Valley of the Dolls” [2024] D: Robert Pulcini. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Zach Galifianakis, Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria. Fantastic episode has the trio hiding out in the burbs with guest star Melissa McCarthy. Gomez is trying to work on the case while Short is imploding his romance with Streep and Martin’s being obtuse. Great episode for Short, and McCarthy’s outstanding. The movie stars also get some solid “helping” material. And Creighton, of course. Real good stuff.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s04e08 “Lifeboat” [2024] D: Robert Pulcini. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Zach Galifianakis, Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Richard Kind. Maybe the strongest “movie-themed” episode of the season, with guest star Griffin Dunne revealing the prime suspects’ origin stories. All while the actors crash the trio’s investigation, leading to some great classic Martin physical humor. And Galifianakis gets a strong subplot to work through. Funny but with more range. Dunne’s real good. Excellent cliffhanger. Darn good show.

Shrinking (2023) s02e01 “Jimmying” [2024] D: Randall Keenan Winston. S: Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller, Harrison Ford, Ted McGinley. Very season premiere season premiere sets up most of the regulars and recurring characters’ new plots. Everyone but Segel remains a delight while he saps the energy. Especially given where his season appears to be headed. Ford holds it all together effortlessly with Williams keeping things afloat on her side. It’s charming enough, just a tad mechanical.

Slow Horses (2022) s04e06 “Hello Goodbye” [2024] D: Adam Randall. S: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hugo Weaving, Jonathan Pryce, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar. I was a dirty bird–HORSES is just fine. And by fine, excellent. Transcendent. Completely delivering on all its moves, even the exaggerated ones. Weaving is still terrible, however. Wonder why Tommy Lee Jones didn’t want to do it. Anyway. Stellar finish. It’s the action. It’s just so well executed. The timing is impeccable.

Tulsa King (2022) s02e05 “Tilting at Windmills” [2024] D: David Semel. S: Sylvester Stallone, Martin Starr, Jay Will, Max Casella, Tatiana Zappardino, Annabella Sciorra, Garrett Hedlund. It’s a truly bad episode in many parts, including Stallone complaining about the woke schools (in Oklahoma, sure, Jan). But there’s also bad Neal McDonough, resentfully bored Starr, and Will continuing to lack character. Sciorra has some fun, though. The big action sequence is awful, and not just because the accompanying song stinks. At least it’s a short episode.