What I Watched on TV in April

Social Distancing is really doing wonders for this series. Here's what I've been watching on the small screen this month. 

Tiger King - I listened to the internet talking about how crazy this was and seeing "Carole Fuckin' Baskin" everywhere so I gave in. Honestly, this was just a bunch of dumb redneck bullshit. Yes it was crazy and nearly everyone involved was garbage, but I expected a bit more because of the hype.

Black Earth Rising - This is a one season mini series I've had in my Netflix queue for a while starring the wonderful Michaela Cole in a dramatic role so far removed from her Chewing Gum days. I really enjoyed it. She plays a legal investigator that was adopted as a Rwandan refugee after the massacre in the early 90's only to find her out her mother is about to prosecute one of the men who helped stop it. It's a lot of information and some of the episodes dragged a little, but overall it was very good. I'm surprised this didn't get a lot of attention when it came out. Cole was easily Emmy worthy.

Better Call Saul - This entire season can be summed up with "Kim, why?" It's frustrating to see a character like her make so many stupid choices. I will say even though the finale wasn't the strongest episode this season, it does make me look forward to the 6th and finale season coming up.

The Plot Against America - They should change the name of this show to "Tr*mp's America", honestly what's the difference? 

Thoughts at the beginning of the month: The highlight of the month was quiet, timid Bess backhanding her son for being a brain washed little twit. Sandy, if you were anyone else's kid you would've caught that hand far earlier into the conversation. You're lucky Bess let you say your ignorant piece. 

Thoughts at the end: This show had its final episode on April 20th and a lot has changed. Sandy got his sense back and saw how stupid he was being. Bess cut Evelyn out of her life, which rightfully needed to happen. The finale was really strong, my only complaint was with Alvin's character. I haven't read the books but his new demeanor after being part of that secret plot felt like a massive 180 turn for him, and I didn't care for it. Over all, this was a great mini series and I hope Zoe Kazan wins an Emmy for it. 

Westworld - I like this season so much better than season 2. It actually seems like they know where they want to go this time around and I'm loving Aaron Paul and Evan Rachel Wood together. Tessa Thompson has absolutely been stealing this season and Ed Harris had a really strong episode himself recently. We even got to see Jimmi Simpson return! Thandie Newton needs better people to bounce off of though, so far Mauve's story has been the least interesting, which is the exact opposite of where we were last season when she was carrying it. 

Peaky Blinders - The biggest endeavor I took on this month was watching all 5 seasons of this show (Which I've been saying I was going to do for years) and I have thoughts.
Season 1: my favorite season, and pretty much perfect.
Season 2: Not a fan of how rape/attempted rape is used, so it loses points there, but Tom Hardy shows up so that helps it a little
Season 3: Kills off my favorite character so I'm sad.
Season 4: Kills off another character I liked, introduces some more annoying ones including Adrian Brody doing the worst Vito Corleone impression I've ever heard. He was legitimately painful to watch.
Season 5: Aside from another Hardy cameo this entire season was incredibly boring and despite being the one I finished last, it's the season I remember the least about because it just wasn't that interesting. 

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez - I find myself getting frustrated on behalf of true crime documentary subjects often, but it's been a long time since I've felt quite the amount of despair I did watching this 6 episode series on Netflix. The amount of people who failed this child are staggering. Not just his trash mother and her boyfriend for murdering him, but the social worker who had all the information there and did the bare minimum. I hope they never work with children again.

Insecure - Since I binge watched all three seasons last month, I was ready to start season 4 with everyone else! This show is still clever, funny, and gives me endless anxiety about how hard dating looks. They had a gag about a lost condom that I laughed so hard at I actually had to pause the show to finish. The series also sets up that Issa and Molly are going to have another falling out, and I'm a little nervous waiting for it.

Run - Another new show that premiered on HBO this month is Run with the always reliable Merritt Weaver and Domnhall Gleeson. So far we've only had a few episodes but I like the set up and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.