"Fargo"

So, yes, it took me until season four to discover "Fargo".  What can I say?  Covid changes everything and my viewership is much wider now that I have lots of time on my hands.  (Lots. Of. Time.)  Can't say this one is in my wheelhouse but it is interesting.  An anthology series (each season utilizes a different cast to tell a different story) this particular season is set in Kansas City, 1950.  The story is one of competing gangland activities.  Through the voice of young Ethelrida Pearl Smutney we see the intersection storylines of this old yet new tale.  Paradox and satire abound.  Ethelrida is the child in this fable and is not privy to most of the goings-on, yet her voice provides perspective to it all.  There is inevitability -- The Irish mob does in the Jewish mob, only to be replaced by the Italian mob.  This season begins as the Black mob arrives in town ready to play.  Weirdness adds to the quirky feel of the place.  David Lynch would be proud, as both traffic lights and pie figure into various episodes.  Split screens give a fractured sense of time and a truly bizarre nurse touches everyone she meets ... not always in a good way.  It's strange, it's fun if you are in the right mood, it's just a little artsy and it is worth the weekly watch even if it actually doesn't take place in Fargo.  A good option for a late night or a glass of wine.  Don't try to understand it all, just sit back and take it in. 

Fun

Leave it to FOX to come up with mindless escapism in this critical time.  Enter "L.A.'s Finest" and "Filthy Rich".  Both are not too deep but not too shallow.  They make for a good hour or two of not thinking about anything.  "L.A.'s Finest" is your basic buddy cop thing with the wild child and the by-the-book partner discovering that their chemistry helps them to solve crimes.  The twist here is the buddies are female, with Gabrielle Union as the loose cannon and Jessica Alba as the (semi) grounded one.  Alba's fans will be happy to see that she can still kick ass, 20 years after "Dark Angel".  Gabrielle's character has indiscriminate sex which lead me to wonder, for a moment, if it would seem as salacious had her character been male, but that thought came and went.  Enter the shoot-em-ups and car chases.  If the first show doesn't satisfy your junk-TV cravings next up is "Filthy Rich", yet another incarnation of a tale about corrupt televangelists facing their dirty little secrets as they come home to roost (literally).  Headed by Kim Cattrall, who is maturing beautifully, the show may have the tension of your average soap but provides plenty of laughs as well.  A couple of terrific diversions.  Grab a bowl of popcorn and settle in.

NEXT

A show guaranteed to make you want to pull the plug on your electronic home assistant, NEXT's Eliza (aka Alexa) makes HAL look like a toddler.  In non-stop action John Slattery (a Bill Gates/Steve Jobs mashup) works with an FBI agent to stop the unstoppable.  An AI which can teach itself, essentially becoming a genius twenty times over, haunts them at every step, reminding the viewer of how incredibly intertwined we now are with technology which spies on us everywhere.  Our intrepid leads are also hindered by an Elon Musk lookalike (who is clearly a borderline bad guy).  The tension is palpable.  Every episode so far has ended on a cliffhanger.  Is it good?  Yes.  First, there is John Slattery, and come on, who doesn't love John Slattery?  There is the frenetic yet drawn out pacing (courtesy of the folks who brought you 24) and a very solid ensemble.  In an odd way I find this massive, earth-ending impending disaster to be a lot of fun.  Maybe I'm twisted.  Or maybe it's just a reflection of our very odd times.