The Stop Button

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e05 “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power” D: Rachel Goldberg. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The episode does a big death and a couple twist reveals, but it’s a tad slight. The gang gets to Hahn’s trial and the show rushes it with a ouija board bit. And the rush seems to be so they can move the narrative’s perspective between characters. Only… kind of not? LuPone’s great. Hahn’s got bad material.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e06 “Familiar by Thy Side” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. Locke’s secret origin reveals all the ties to WANDAVISION and some to the rest of the series so far. And it’s a good episode, except where it lands in the series. Episode six feels a tad long to get around to the stakes… not to mention the character development reset. Locke’s real good and an awesome returning player.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e07 “Death’s Hand in Mine” D: Jac Schaeffer. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. LuPone gets her spotlight episode amid all the reveals happening with Locke. It’s a beautifully directed episode, wonderfully acted, and feels very much like a Hail Mary victory lap. The show’s not sure it’s getting away with it. None of the groundwork for LuPone’s adventures here compare to what they do now. Even the effects work seems better.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e08 “Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The last five minutes, when Locke pretends he’s been leading the show the whole time, those five minutes are a disaster. But most of the episode is this weird misfire with Hahn, Locke, and Zamata reaching the end of the Road. Plaza’s there, too, post-her big reveal. None of the performances click, which hurts it the most.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e09 “Maiden Mother Crone” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The grand finale answers all questions but not the most important–what performance did they think Hahn was going to give and why didn’t she? For her secret origin flashback, she entirely phones it in. The present day conclusion is for a show they didn’t do. It’s a bewildering shrug of a finish. Poorly directed, too.

The Rig (2023) s02e05 “Episode 5” [2025] D: Alex Holmes. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola. They spend the whole episode resolving the cliffhanger, which works out fairly well. It’d be better if the geography were more involved, but it’s a fine cat and mouse chase. Then there’s land stuff with Teale and Alice Krige discovering common purpose. For an Amazon “backdoor” second season it’s actually working out rather well.

The Rig (2023) s02e06 “Episode 6” [2025] D: Alex Holmes. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola. Okay finale really wants to be THE ABYSS, with some pointlessly self-indulgent shots given the budget. It does give Hampshire her easy best episode of the season and it’s nothing special, she just gets to have some character development. It’s packed, too. The pacing is excellent; though they did need the happy gay couple to smooch.

Severance (2022) s02e01 “Hello, Ms. Cobel” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Sarah Bock, Bob Balaban. Scott returns to the office to find almost everything different, and only mysterious answers to what’s happened since last season’s cliffhanger finale. There are coworkers missing, some new coworkers, some promotions, and pop culture references. And too much CGI. It’s manipulative and might show the season’s whole hand, but it’s still pretty good. Cherry and Tillman rock on.

Severance (2022) s02e02 “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig” [2025] D: Sam Donovan. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, John Turturro. Now it’s the outies’ story since the season one cliffhanger. Some surprises, which may or may not pay off, they’re playing it very close all of a sudden. We meet Lower’s other half for the first time. Pins in that. All the acting’s good or great, with Tillman and Arquette in particular fire. It’s getting a better footing.

Severance (2022) s02e03 “Who Is Alive?” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, John Turturro. Some of the show seems to be going back to the first season’s outstanding threads–with some genuine narrative surprises–while Season Two business spins its wheels. The show keeps introducing incongruous details, without ever addressing the unresolved ones; it’s in danger of folding in on itself with intentional inconsistencies. Some excellent acting; it’s solid but just.

Severance (2022) s02e04 “Woe’s Hollow” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Sarah Bock, John Turturro, Christopher Walken. Is punting a big cliffhanger going to be a “SEVERANCE?” Perhaps (they do it again here). The gang wakes up outside on a tundra. They will get an explanation, which raises unanswered (and sometimes unaddressed) questions. But they do deal with one of the season two subplots, not letting it go stale. Great Turturro and Tillman performances.

Silo (2023) s02e10 “Into the Fire” [2025] D: Bert. S: Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Tim Robbins, Shane McRae, Steve Zahn. There’s a lot of good acting. And what should be Ferguson’s best scenes, if the script weren’t so banal. Everything comes to a head and so on, nothing goes unresolved (except stuff for next season). It’s all very neat, and also shows the effects of never flexing against constraints. Zahn does not break out (sadly); Robbins maybe next season?