Fantasy Girl Fall
Genre shows worth watching, plus Taylor Swift drama
Chimp Crazy finale tonight! (The show I reviewed last week.) Every second of this show makes me gasp like I’m four years old and it’s the first time I’m seeing a magician cut someone in half. Off the chain — literally. ALSO: Emmys next Sunday!
Today is THAT day. The day that comes every September when the weather is so perfect, so impossibly summer but also fall, so sunny and warm but crisp and cool, that I can only describe it as the meteorological equivalent of the most exquisite chime of a bell. A flute in perfect tune. A tone of crystal.
I hope you, too, are experiencing crystal-bell-chime weather wherever you are. As one of my favorite writers, R. Eric Thomas, says (to paraphrase):
On this day in September when the weather is resplendent, anything is possible.
[Unless you’re Joe Burrow, amirite??]
This week, we’re diving into fantasy/genre shows after a quick detour to talk about Taylor Swift and politics (ugh)! Here’s a preview because it’s long today, babes:
A quick rundown of the Taylor Swift/Brittany Mahomes drama
Upcoming “Genre TV”!
Rings of Power initial reaction
A battle between two historical/fantasy shows I LOVED and HATE-LOVED
The Taylor Swift-NFL Season 2 Premiere & Brittany Mahomes Drama
It happened! Little girls watched football with their dads, and it was nice! I kindly ask the football bros who hate women to respect my joy and please not ruin football for me this season. Thanks much!
OK, so what about the Brittany Mahomes drama?
I want to be clear that it’s annoying this is even in the discourse, but here we go: Brittany Mahomes liked, then unliked, a Trump tweet [one that was full of xenophobia and transphobia] and then doubled down with some word salad about “haters” not being “adults.” [Which is nonsense: Full-grown adults hate lots of things like, I don’t know, violence against women, for one?] Full disclosure: I feel uncomfortable censoring someone because of a tweet they liked, even if that person is as annoying as Brittany Mahomes.
People thought Taylor would no longer be seen with Brittany because Taylor has been clear, if not full-throated, about her Democratic leanings. But — assuming they’re actual friends, which is a HUGE assumption that I don’t concede — that’s a crazy thing to think would be the end of a friendship?!?
They had separate suites at the Chiefs game Thursday night, but then they were hugging in a box at the U.S. Open today. Yes, Taylor uses her personal life to build her persona AND doesn’t want us to comment on it, which is quite a tension to hold. But I feel like she’s entitled to have what friendships she wants, and why are we trying to make her a political firebrand anyway?
A lot of people on the left [where I reside] were like, “Why isn’t her brilliant publicist Tree Paine separating her from Brittany!?” as if Tree Paine has a moral stance here. If you think Tree Paine isn’t walking that gray line of Mass Appeal, you have another think coming!
We’re being a little silly/naive about all of this, methinks. I welcome your thoughts!
***Speaking of the NFL and my “anything is possible” day: Kendrick Lamar announced he is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans, and I am now manifesting tickets!***
It’s “Genre TV” Season!
There is no better time to engage your Fantasy Girl Mode than right now when the weather is changing and witchyness is in the air.
Who here loves Genre TV? “Genre TV,” which is different from “TV genres,” indicates the sort of shows that a specific audience likes: fantasy, sci-fi, superheroes, prestige, etc.
Today, we’re using the classic definition: Sci-fi/Fantasy/Comic-Books. Here are the genre shows coming out this fall that I’m excited about, with a rating between 1-5 stars of how excited I am.
What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Nothing on TV is like it: It’s weird, fun, smart, dark, hilarious. A fave for me.
Agatha All Along ⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Finally, the follow-up to Marvel’s WandaVision, which was good. I’m hopeful because it looks very kooky and Hocus-Pocusy while also relying on Kathryn Hahn to bring emotional gravitas. But I’m halfway out the door on Marvel, so the jury’s still in session.
The Penguin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I really wanted to be above this because it is yet ANOTHER superhero sequel, and it picks up after The Batman with Robert Pattinson, which I thought was an hour too long and whiny. But, damn, if the trailer didn’t make me want to watch it! The creative team includes talent from Mare of Easttown and Station Eleven. Also: Colin Farrell 4 Lyfe.
Dune: Prophecy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I love Dune, but I’m scared it’s going to get old and dry like Marvel, and this trailer looks like too many other things I’ve seen. But hey! No real reason to think it won’t be awesome!
Grotesquerie ⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Travis Kelce makes his acting debut in an American Horror Story-esque series!??? I can’t stomach American Horror Story but I’m going to attempt to stomach this.
Silo Season 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — As I said about Season 1, this is the best show nobody’s talking about. I cannot wait.
Are you excited about any of these shows? Did I miss any you are excited for? Share your thoughts!
Watching: Rings of Power Season 2
*mostly spoiler-free*
“You don’t have to lie to girls / If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.”
—Sabrina Carpenter singing about Galadriel, I’m pretty sure
Because I am a glutton for punishment where J.R.R. Tolkien is involved [I read The Silmarillion in high school], I am watching season two of Rings of Power, fully ready to get hurt again.
I thought the first season was…disappointing? Visually stunning, a technical achievement, but thin on story and logic and likable characters. By the end, I was an open Sauron sympathizer. You’d think Sauron, the guy trying to turn Middle Earth into an elitist class system under military control, was the fascist — but those Elves are giving him a run for his money!
Anyways. Now I’ve watched the first three episodes of Season 2.
Highlights:
Sauron, with whom I have sympathies, as mentioned, has entered his Legolas Era with that bottle dye and keratin treatment. As a Legolas girlie, this is a perilous pattern of events. As I texted a friend: “He could convince me to adopt a tarantula.”
The Dwarves are finally getting their justice. Far from Gimli being essentially reduced to a fart joke in the original trilogy films, these Dwarves are the emotional center of the show. I want to spend every episode with Durin and Disa.
The Elves’ story is getting much more compelling this season, at least in the first three episodes. Team Elrond!!
It’s beautiful. Just stunning.
Lowlights:
The stuff with the “Men” in Numenor is the weakest. Hard to connect with the characters and their motivations, and a little too heavy-handed on the “January 6” messaging for a show that’s supposed to be about a fantasy world.
There’s too much going on, so the story feels very broad and very shallow. They have to resort to regurgitating Tolkien’s best lines to slap on some depth.
Speaking of shallow, I still don’t think the Elves are hot enough. Sorry!
A lot of the plot depends on feeble “Oops, missed your text!” devices. Tolkien would NEVER — except that he kind of famously did with the whole why-didn’t-the-Eagles-just-fly-them-to-Mount-Doom thing.
Anyone else watching?
Two Contrasting Genre Shows I Loved
I wrote in my Notes app about these two shows:
One is trying to be Bridgerton; the other is trying to be White Lotus but during the Black Plague.
One is fantasy Gilmore Girls cosplaying British monarchy; the other is Much Ado About Nothing mixed with Monty Python.
One is middle-school feminism; the other is nihilism and hope in bed together.
One is a romp in an air-brushed fairy garden; the other is a romp with the Grim Reaper.
One is Galinda; one is Elphaba.
One is My Lady Jane; the other is The Decameron.
My Lady Jane: The Easy, Clever, Hot-Girl Watch
My Lady Jane is relatively clever for what it is, but it KNOWS it’s clever, and it’s TRYING to be clever, which is…a little annoying? But I got past it!
The two leads are the most beautiful people you’ve ever seen, the sex is sexy but not too explicit, and the plot has a creative twist. It’s fun and energetic and somewhat fresh…ish. I rolled my eyes at least 50 times per episode, but I also enjoyed it. Ben watched it with me, if that tells you anything.
It’s basically like: What if Lady Jane Grey DIDN’T get murdered? What could’ve happened to our history books, but in a fun and sexy way? And also, what if some magic things happened?
It’s filled with a talented British cast of actors who you know have said lines like “I am your superior in wealth and circumstance” a million times. Very capable.
Too winky and satisfied with itself, but still fun.
The Decameron: The Nasty, Smart, Weird-Girl Watch
I’m about to sound like the most annoying guy you knew in college: My Lady Jane is easier to watch, but The Decameron is more intellectually satisfying.
If you can stomach it.
This show is set in Italy during the Bubonic plague and follows a set of aristocrats who escape the pestilence-ridden city for a vacay at a countryside villa. Like I said: White Lotus, but during the plague. Of course, the pestilence doesn’t stay away long, and they all carry secrets with them that will complicate their alliances.
The characters are all something from a farce: Clownish stereotypes that play for a laugh until you suddenly learn there’s more: a soft, vulnerable center to each of them. Someone said it’s “fatalism so extreme it’s almost giddy.” It engages with a real sense of grief [“This is awful. I’ll never recover.”] but then lives out the idea that love still matters [“Love has long claws.”]. You can never really do anything about death and sadness, this show says, but you can choose to find something that makes this crap life worthwhile.
This show moved me far more deeply than My Lady Jane did. But it’s also tough to stomach, full of extremely bawdy sex and vulgarity and sacrilege [not to sound like a Victorian grandma], and riddled with plague and death and body grossness. It’s an acquired taste!
Final pitch for the other weirdos out there like me who might like this: It stars Tony Hale [Arrested Development, VEEP], Saoirse-Monica Jackson [Derry Girls], and Zosia Mamet [Girls] plus a super diverse and interesting cast and was made by Kathleen Jordan, who made Teenage Bounty Hunters, a delightful show that was not renewed for a second season but had this same weird, nervy, awkward, delirious, loving energy.
Dealer’s choice!
* Glad to see another WWDITS fan. I absolutely love Colin Robinson
* Can't take Grotesquiere seriously because Niecy Nice apparently plays a detective 😂
* May have to resubscribe to Apple+ just for Silo S2.
* I have never been more frustrated with a show than I am with Rings of Power. I wanna love it, but half of the time I struggle to stay awake. More elves and dwarfs, less men and harfoots.
Well I wasn't watching most of these shows but it looks like I now need to add them to my draft email of "To be watched". (I'm an android girl so I don't do notes...it's 50+draft emails).
I did watch season 1 of RoP and struggled so much with the lack of score. So much of the LOTR movies is built with score and it's just lacking so much in this show. I however will regularly allow myself to be ruined by anything Tolkein or Lewis, so I'll be back for season 2.
On the Brittany Mahomes/ Twsift non-drama that is being made into a thing. This is just another great example of the "rage" culture we live in. None of these things should be a reason to end relationships (friendship, familial, or otherwise). It's all nuanced and this culture we live in currently does not allow for nuance in any way. It's really anxiety inducing for me personally. I'm going to have to pop off social media soon and only get my pop culture news via this substack.