Vive La Vida Loca | by Aidan Morgan
“Television man, he’s a television man, give him a television and he’ll feel like a man.” – Johnny Bitcoin
Many of you celebrated the final episode of Game of Thrones by cancelling your Crave subscriptions and throwing your television sets into the local burn pit, but I mean to tell you: don’t get rid of Crave. No, not yet. Want you some proof? Yeah, get you some proof right here.
Vina Vida Vica
One of the smartest shows I’ve ever seen about American identity in the 21st century is quietly sitting on Crave, and your whole “I’m not aware of this show you’re obliquely referencing” attitude isn’t going to cut it anymore. Vida’s second season just landed, and it’s a doozy. In season one, Mexican-American sisters Emma and Lyn return to the East Los Angeles neighbourhood of their youth to take care of their mother’s estate, only to discover she’s left behind a crumbling bar and — much to their surprise — a wife. Meanwhile, predatory lenders and gentrifiers lap at the action’s edges. Vida is a quicker and better watch than Game of Thrones, and the sex scenes don’t double as infodumps about dragons or whatever.
Lovely, Dark, Deep But Not Dead
Fans of Deadwood: remember that bitter day in 2006 when the c*cks*ckers in power exercised their putrid f**king prerogative to consign our souls to the outer dark and cancel Deadwood after three seasons? For years, rumours bumped and rattled around that another season, or maybe a movie, would be coming, but to no avail.
Finally, 13 years later, Deadwood is back for 90 more minutes of inventive profanity and contemplation. The action takes place 10 years after the events of the series, with most of the surviving characters back to curse and grump and drink together on the eve of South Dakota joining the United States. Reviews have ranged from the nostalgic to the ecstatic — and in some cases elegiac, since it was revealed series creator David Milch has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Something To Investigate
Jessica Jones, the last series standing in the Marvel–Netflix dustup, is back for one more season on June 14. Go get your smart-mouthed, super-powered alcoholic angst on.