only intermittently obedient

On Netflix:

Bridgerton (S4): I loved Sophie, but somehow this show is perfectly calibrated to annoy me in minor yet meaningful ways so I don't find it as relaxing as I'd like. And while its diverse casting is usually delightful, this season served up a dragon lady stepmother—like, literally, right down to the costuming: the points on the shoulders of that last dress—aaaaaaaaaaaand is that okay? Surely that is not okay. The next season better be about Eloise being awesome or I'm going to flip a table. Also bring back Michaela.

Four Seasons (S2): This season is as good as the first. Funny and lightweight, until it's not. Contains lockdown-era covid, elder care, and Will Forte being an angry nice guy, which I think is why I detest him so much as an actor. He just gives off that vibe. Like he's always one second away from completely losing his shit.

Shrill (S1): I can only watch one ep of this a day (or less) because the bummer to joy ratio is too high for me. Seeing Portland on screen is nice, but the combination of body shaming, food policing, low self-esteem, and Annie being a bad friend who makes bad decisions can make this unpleasant to watch. I've seen season one plus the first episode of season two and I'm not sure I want to go on.

Below (S1): What if Jaws, but the small, remote island was cold instead of hot? Canada instead of the US? Coming home week instead of tourist season? What if the scientist were a woman instead of a man? And the hero a fisherman instead of a cop? What if the real evil was capitalism all along? Then you have Below. It's fun. It's got an interesting setting and likeable characters. It doesn't really pull off the big turn in the last episode, but I could see where they were aiming. It's very gory at times, but no jump scares. Some flashing lights.

The Diplomat (S4): More non-stop thrills and shouting for Kate and Hal. Everyone's continuing to crush it, but most especially Allison Janney. This season continued last season's trend of Kate fucking Hal's shit up, just as he spent the first two seasons fucking her shit up, and now I'm really hoping we'll get a chance to see whose shit they can fuck up together if they ever manage to get rowing in the same direction.

Enola Holmes 3: Not quite as charming as the first two movies—Enola spends the first half alone, feeling out of her depth, and being shitty to Tewkesbury—but I do appreciate the attempt to reckon with the crimes of the British Empire. Though Malta wouldn't be free of it until September 21, 1964.

And various documentaries of varying quality, listed here in order of decreasing quality:

Trust Me: The False Prophet: An engaging and compassionate look at the FLDS community in Short Creek from the perspective of an ex-Mormon, but Warren Jeffs is just as fucking gross as the guy claiming to be his successor so the women who escaped one but haven't freed themselves of the other are still being controlled by a monster, though the documentary lets the viewer draw that conclusion on their own, assuming they have enough information to do so. It's a real horror-movie you-missed-some-of-the-eggs moment there at the end. (Much like Below, see above.)

FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened: A bunch of rich influencers get conned by an even richer asshole. No one gets (physically) injured in the melee so we're free to feel smug about it, but the Bahamians who did the physical work of setting up the festival were exploited for their labor and the documentary won't let you forget it.

Michael Jackson: The Verdict: Very uncomfortable subject matter, not very well constructed. The only thing of any journalistic (?) value is the footage of his interview with Martin Bashir. The rest is filled with straight-to-the-camera talk from fans, "family friends," some cops, and two jury members, one of whom just straight up disappears from the narrative about halfway through. I got some details I wish I hadn't, but there's no real attempt to describe Jackson as a person beyond "eccentric" and "lives in an amusement park," and no look at what his family life was like or his experiences as a child star. All I know for sure is that whatever was going on with him and those kids, it was a goddamn tragedy. Which I already knew. But Macaulay Culkin??

And one EXCELLENT documentary, on PBS Passport and maybe Kanopy:

Marcella (2024): Marcella Hazan didn't start out a cook; she was a scientist who got married, learned to cook for her husband, moved to America, and ended up changing the way America approached—and ate—Italian food. Highly recommended. From American Masters, season 39.

And on DVD from the library:

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: I can't say I enjoy this series, so I won't, but here's the stuff I enjoyed from season 3:

• Spock and La'An dancing together (and being sex friends, I guess; they didn't give me enough to form an opinion on that, but they are my two favorite characters, so I think I like it in theory).
• Jess Bush perfectly threading the needle in her role as first officer in the fake Star Trek.
• Una's "—and loud" in response to Vulcan!Pike's "THIS MEETING WILL BE BRIEF."
• Ortegas getting her own episode, plus an annoying little brother. (Have they actually told us Ortegas is queer, or are we just supposed to assume so based on her haircut, sleeveless shirts, and motorcycle repair? Anyway, I want her to be friends with Reboot!Kirk now. They could get into so much trouble together.)
• Kirk/Spock mind meld!!
• Carol Kane

Project Hail Mary (2026): Loved this. Watched it twice. Despite being a book-before-movie sort of person, based on my experience with The Martian, I decided to watch this without having read the book, which was an excellent decision. But as soon as I finished the movie I wanted more, so I opened up Libby to put a hold on it. I'll read it as soon as the *checks watch* 1,365 people ahead of me do. In the meantime: Fanfic! ~Sometime later~ Caved and requested a paper copy from the library, which reached me much sooner. Meanwhile there are only 973 people ahead of me for the ebook.

The Sheep Detectives (2026): As soon as Hugh Jackman righteously stormed into the church for no apparent reason, I shut this off. The talking sheep were just way too cutesy for me (if a sheep has anything to say it's going to be WEIRD and your types of sheep aren't going to map onto human traits, they're gonna be like "will eat anything" and "gets stuck in corners" and "worships the faucet" and "lurks in the bushes" and "wants to be best friends with the dog" not "the smart one" and "the dumb one" and "the glam one") also Hugh Jackman was acting like a lunatic (derogatory).

Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care, by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba:

An approachable, personal guide on how to organize against a hostile state. It starts with the idea that we must first imagine a better world and then do what we can to create it—while also respecting our limits to prevent burnout—and emphasizes the radical act of reciprocal care. A shrewd, but hopeful, book about what we can accomplish together and the practical means to do so.

I got this as part of Haymarket Books' 2024 Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free bundle. I happened to be reading it on Labor Day when I learned about Haymarket Square from another source, recalled the publisher's name, and was like, "Ohhhh."

Contains: n-word; descriptions of torture, racism (environmental, institutional), COVID, cancer, violence (carceral, police, state, structural).