The Stop Button

The Rig (2023) s02e01 “Episode 1” [2025] D: John Strickland. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola, Nikhil Parmar. Last season’s cliffhanger resolves real quick when it turns out they’re just on another RIG. By the end of the episode, Hampshire and Glen are commanding another undersea mission (anyone seen the ABYSS), while their bosses deceive them. The finale’s incredibly tense, which makes up for the narrative recycling and the acting being a little bland.

The Rig (2023) s02e02 “Episode 2” [2025] D: John Strickland. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola, Nikhil Parmar. Is Mark Addy good here, or is he bad and just so unpleasant as a villain, it’s effective. And they don’t waste any time with conspiracy subplots, the good guys are already discovering them. Hampshire does get the short end of the stick here, however. Silly ladies in the oil industry. But they’re in good shape so far.

The Rig (2023) s02e03 “Episode 3” [2025] D: John Strickland. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola, Nikhil Parmar. Intrigue continues on land and sea (Teale and Sandall have the best episode, content-wise), and the season two cast members–Alice Krige, Ross Anderson, Johannes Roaldsen Fürst–are all doing fine acting work. Sadly, Compston gets the most for the original cast and he’s (as ever) beyond flat. Top-billed Hampshire and Glen are barely in it.

The Rig (2023) s02e04 “Episode 4” [2025] D: Alex Holmes. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola, Nikhil Parmar. It’s a solid episode but the intrigue involving new season two regular Alice Krige–getting outmaneuvered by a nepo-baby, hopefully a feint because otherwise RIG’s got a catastrophic misogyny problem–just showcases how they should’ve started her in season one. Too little, too late, also amid much more concerning turns of event. Probably Glen’s best episode this season.

Shrinking (2023) s02e11 “The Drugs Don’t Work” [2024] D: Randall Keenan Winston. S: Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller. Turns out Tennie does have more subplot, we just don’t get to see it. It comes up during Ford’s part of the episode, which goes by way too fast. Williams has a deck-chair arranging plot point or two, but mostly it’s Segel being upset. And it requires some basic dramatics; neither Segel nor the show can manage them.

Shrinking (2023) s02e12 “The Last Thanksgiving” [2024] D: Bill Lawrence. S: Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller. If I’ve sat through a more manipulative television episode, it’s been a while. It’s Thanksgiving and everyone’s going to learn… nothing. They skip the big scene the season’s been promising (can’t expect Segel to act, after all). Williams’s plot is a big diss. Ford does get a great scene. Also, Apple’s appropriation of the mental health tag is gross.

Silo (2023) s02e09 “The Safeguard” [2025] D: Bert. S: Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Avi Nash, Tim Robbins, Shane McRae. Despite some concerning flashbacks, Ferguson’s solo b half of the episode (quarter of the episode?) is quite good. Nice resolve for the Zahn arc, even if he’s just an extended guest star of the week. The main silo plots are talky and stalled, but then there’s a big cliffhanger reveal, promising something more interesting for next week’s season finale.