Kathryn VanArendonk Author Archive
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Kathryn VanArendonk

Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@kvanaren
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Kathryn is a critic who writes about TV and comedy. She gets mad when people say TV is a 10 hour movie.

  1. tv review
    Good Talk With Anthony Jeselnik Is Part Talk Show, Part Sparring MatchThe series’ sincere-ish conversations about comedy live and die by how well guests can navigate the spiky trap of Jeselnik’s persona.
  2. tv review
    The Spy Feels Like a Memorial Plaque Turned Into a MiniseriesNetflix’s six-part miniseries is a functional but inert take on the story of Eli Cohen, played with unblinking straightness by Sacha Baron Cohen.
  3. comedy review
    Dave Chappelle Hopes You’re OffendedIn his Broadway show and Netflix special, the comedian aligns with perspectives of the powerful.
  4. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Mindhunter Season-Two FinaleIt’s a story about failure, but it’s still a story about hoping the hero will catch the bad guy.
  5. close reads
    Is Succession a Comedy?The Roys’ lives might be tragic, but their whole world is laughable.
  6. comedy review
    Julio Torres’s My Favorite Shapes Will Change the Way You See a Happy Meal ToyThe SNL writer shows off his unwavering commitment to the bit in his new HBO special.
  7. speeches
    Listen to Toni Morrison’s Remarkable, Transcendent Nobel Prize Lecture“Look. How lovely it is, this thing we have done — together.”
  8. tv review
    Derry Girls Is Teen TV at Its BestThe Channel 4/Netflix series resists the easy traps that so often hinder teen shows.
  9. close reads
    Jane the Virgin Was a Fantasy, That’s Why It Felt So RealThe telenovela twists were preposterously silly, but they clarified all the messy complexity of ordinary life.
  10. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Series-Finale Recap: The End.There are no secrets left. Just an ending and happiness.
  11. finales
    After Years of Telenovela Twists, Jane the Virgin’s Mastermind Says Good-byeTalking with showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman about Jane’s lovefest finale.
  12. close reads
    This Time, the Winner of The Bachelorette Was the BacheloretteDon’t mess with Hannah Brown.
  13. tv review
    The Boys Transcends the Dark, Gritty Superhero SlogThe new Amazon series’s cynical, superpowered world is nothing new, but some of its points about that world are.
  14. welcome (back) to neptune
    Breaking Down Veronica Mars Season 4 With Showrunner Rob ThomasThe series creator discusses returning to Neptune sans nostalgia, where he’d like to see Veronica go from here, and, yes, that ending.
  15. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: The Tail EndThe series’s penultimate episode wraps up loose ends in ways both emotional (Michael!) and absolutely bonkers (Sin Rostro!).
  16. tv review
    Orange Is the New Black’s Final Season Sticks the LandingThe show that helped launch a new era of TV goes out on a brutal, unambiguous, and surprisingly emotional note.
  17. bachelor nation
    The 6 Biggest Moments of The Bachelorette’s ‘Men Tell All’If Luke is going to crash Hanna’s rose-ceremony set, she will move the set somewhere else.
  18. spoilers
    Why Veronica Mars Had to Blow Itself Up In the EndShowrunner Rob Thomas knows the ending of the revival season will be hard for fans to accept, but for him it was the only possible way forward.
  19. burning qs
    So, What Is Cats About?We’re glad you asked.
  20. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Sin Rostro Returns!The seasons-long Rose story line finally makes its way toward something like a conclusion but not before throwing out one last red herring.
  21. tv review
    Veronica Mars Returns to Neptune, Seedy and Seductive As EverThe Hulu revival succeeds by returning to what made the series great, while sidestepping the perils of easy nostalgia.
  22. star market
    Who Won Game of Thrones (the Pop Culture Phenomenon)?The fantasy series was gold for nearly every person, place, and broadcaster involved. But who came out on top?
  23. tv review
    Love Island Is Boring, But Hard to EscapeOne week in, the new CBS version of the U.K. reality franchise remains unknowably vague — and strangely comforting.
  24. persistence
    Dave Chappelle Reveals How Bradley Cooper Convinced Him to Be in A Star Is BornIt involves a barn in Ohio.
  25. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Just Like a Telenovela!As Jane heads into its endgame, the two biggest unresolved matters are questions the series has been playing with from the first episode.
  26. highlight reel
    The 15 Best GIFs From the Love Island PremiereEven at this early stage, there are encouraging signals that this could be a worthy U.S. iteration of the great U.K. franchise.
  27. stranger things
    What Will the Stranger Things Kids Write About in Their College Essays?Their scariest challenge yet.
  28. tv review
    Aziz Ansari Reckons With HimselfAnsari’s Netflix special is intentionally full of contradictions, and he has no interest in trying to resolve them.
  29. spoilers
    How Should We Feel About the End of Stranger Things 3?Let’s talk about the implications of that credits scene.
  30. big mood
    What Do the Most GIF-able TV Shows Have in Common?SpongeBob and The Office are racking up millions — and even billions — of views on Giphy, and for good reason.
  31. reality tv
    Marianne Williamson Is Every Weirdo Bachelor ContestantThe first Democratic debates were like the early episodes of a dating reality show.
  32. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: A Storm’s ComingAs it approaches its endgame, Jane looks backward in order to move ahead.
  33. close reads
    The Hills: New Beginnings Is More The Hills, Less New BeginningsA few conversations about parenting aside, the revival of the genre-defining MTV reality series feels eerily unchanged from the original.
  34. chat room
    Maggie Gyllenhaal on The Deuce, Sex Work, and Falling in Love With Fleabag“I’ve gotten into trouble with sex workers online for saying this, but my fantasy of that life is that it’s got to be numbing.”
  35. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: No Cheating at LoteríaJane and Rafael finally have the conversation they needed to have, and Rogelio finally gets the hang of his tail.
  36. emmy insider
    How a Great TV Wig Is MadeThe stylists behind Russian Doll, GLOW, and American Horror Story explain what goes into making the best kind of wig, which is one no one notices.
  37. tv review
    City on a Hill Offers Nostalgia for Boston’s Rough-and-Tumble Past, Little ElseThe new Showtime series hearkens back to a more racist, more physically criminal era with a lot of affection and not much scrutiny.
  38. tv review
    In Trinkets, Teen Shoplifters Form an AllianceAs a story about three high-school girls who become unlikely friends, the new Netflix series is a solid teen show — but something’s missing.
  39. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Jane the Musical!Finally these two have figured it out! If ever there was a time for a grand musical statement, this is it.
  40. emmy insider
    Give Superstore an Emmy Nomination!It’s long past time to recognize one of TV’s best sitcoms.
  41. 2019 tony awards
    The Highs and Lows of the 2019 Tony AwardsCynthia Erivo!!!!
  42. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Man of the HouseJorge and Alba’s relationship may not make sense to Jane, but it doesn’t have to.
  43. chat room
    How Topher Grace Became a ‘Digital God’ for Black MirrorChatting with the actor about playing a social media mogul with a man bun in “Smithereens.”
  44. tv review
    Netflix’s Tales of the City Mistakes Sweetness for SimplicityIn its effort to replicate the earnest sentimentality of the original 1994 miniseries, the revival loses some much-needed complexity.
  45. black mirror
    Black Mirror Season Five Is Exquisitely DumbIn this short, three-episode season, Black Mirror loses its unnerving edge.
  46. overnights
    Deadwood Movie Recap: Before Eyes Close for Good and AllThe end has truly come for Deadwood — the town and the series — as we know it, but the future rolls on.
  47. fashion
    I Bought the Fleabag JumpsuitAnd I’m so glad I did.
  48. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Try to FocusRafael, buddy, you’re making it so hard to love you!
  49. tv review
    Good Omens Makes for a Cheerful ApocalypseBut it doesn’t quite pull together as a great, glorious, goofy Almighty plan.
  50. close reads
    Fleabag Breaks the Fourth Wall and Then Breaks Our HeartsThe end of Fleabag season two is a perfect, crushing conclusion.
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