What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Succession (2018) – Season 3 Ep 9
After a busy week out in the wilderness, I’ve finally returned to see the season finale of Succession; and what an episode it was! After several long months of being poked, prodded, goaded and generally mistreated by Logan (Brian Cox), the Roy siblings finally put up a united front and stood up against him.
In what was my favorite scene this season, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) has a breakdown after his near drowning (which he insists wasn’t an attempt at suicide) and admits to what happened at Shiv’s (Sarah Snook) wedding with the waiter. His siblings comfort him in whatever way they know how, Shiv saying it isn’t his fault and Roman (Kieran Culkin) resorting to his usual dark humor. The framing, the writing and the performances – especially Strong’s – were flawlessly executed, and this moment felt like a long time coming.
It’s unfortunate that they hardly have any time to process before they have to gather their wits for their most difficult challenge yet: stopping Logan from letting GoJo take over Waystar. They make every effort they can think of from trying to get information from Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) on Logan to finding the ideal company structure in a post-Logan era, with Shiv pushing for Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) front and center.
The one thing that really bothered me is how much they exclude Connor (Alan Ruck) from their group. He finally expressed his opinion on how ignored he feels by his younger siblings, the first real interest or emotion he’s shown in family affairs.While he ultimately has the be the bigger person and let it go, I was glad to see him take a stand. Despite this, they still don’t consult with him in the slightest with regard to the takeover.
However, in the end it probably wouldn’t have made any difference. The dark horse turned out to be Tom, who tipped Logan off, and even recruited his favourite lackey Greg (Nicholas Braun) in the process. Though it is unsurprising that Tom would turn against Shiv, since he has been becoming more and more disillusioned by her over the course of the season, it still hurt to see him side with Logan of all people.
The repercussions of this promise to be severe, and Season 4 should be rife territory for the Roy clan’s civil war to continue, albeit with a few of the players moved around and loyalties changed. The show continues to be as strong as ever, in the writing, performances and directing and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them to come.
Movies
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back, however it seems that the world is rather divided on whether he’s friend or foe in this third installment of the series. After Quentin Beck’s “confession” at the end of the last film, and Peter’s (Tom Holland) identity being revealed, he and his inner circle have been having a tough time living their lives normally.
Rather than deal with things within the confines of his reality, he turns instead to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and magic to fix his problems. Except that magic is very complicated and Peter wants a bunch of caveats added in, and somehow he even manages to fracture the spell that Strange is casting.
This results in a number of villains from other universes to bleed through to Peter’s world, these universes of course being those of the previous two Spider-Man film franchises. Peter encounters the likes of Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx). However, rather than fight them as instinct initially tells him to, he follows his Aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) advice to instead help them be better. Through technology, they find ways to to stop whatever causes their mental imbalances, but that also largely means removing their abilities for a number of them, which doesn’t sit well with Electro especially.
Eventually Peter gets overpowered by the multitude of villains, which results in the unfortunate death of his aunt, and sends him spiraling into grief and murderous rage. Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) are at a loss on how to even find him let alone help him, but with his newfound magic and Strange’s ring Ned manages to find two people who might be able to help them out: the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Men.
After a lot of meta jokes and banter, the team work together to help the villains out, and send them back home, but in order for it to happen, Peter tells Doctor Strange to cast a spell that will make the world forget who he is, or that he’s Spider-Man. Naturally, this does not sit well with Ned and MJ, but they agree, telling him to find them when this is all over.
He does, but at the last minute, decides not to introduce himself when he realizes that they may be better off without him. The film end with Peter adjusting to life after visiting May’s grave, the world having forgotten him and with no one to really lean on for support.
I absolutely loved the film, the cameos (especially Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil) and the nostalgia that the film drew on to give us a larger universe. However, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of sadness for Peter, seeing him alone in the world, his friends moving on to bigger and better, while he takes the brunt of the punishment. I do hope we revisit Peter in a future film where he is thriving and living life much more happily than how we left him here.
Colourful Granny 