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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. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Season Premiere Recap: Back From the DeadWith the shocking return of Michael — sorry, Jason — Jane realizes she doesn’t know her own story anymore.
  2. behind the scenes
    How Gina Rodriguez Pulled Off Jane the Virgin’s Amazing 7-Minute Monologue“When you have an actor like that, you can write something with full confidence that she’s going to kill it.”
  3. profile
    The Anti-Prestige ShowrunnerOn set with Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman, who makes great TV by ignoring all the trends.
  4. tv review
    Jane the Virgin Goes Back to the BeginningThe fifth and final season of the CW’s excellent telenovela is giddy, tearful, joyful, and gasp-inducing.
  5. tv review
    Mental Samurai Is a Game Show With Rob Lowe and a Giant Robot ArmYet somehow it isn’t must-watch TV.
  6. tv review
    Amy Schumer Is Growing But Not Sure What It All MeansThe comedian’s new Netflix special tackles pregnancy and illness, but it mostly sticks to the superficial.
  7. tv review
    Billions Season 4 Goes for BrokeThe Showtime series keeps things fresh by inverting its central relationships and leaning into its goofy, go-for-broke mentality.
  8. the internet
    Why Netflix’s One Day at a Time Cancellation Feels Like a BetrayalWhen a multi-billion-dollar media company tweets like your online friend, its business decisions are bound to feel personal.
  9. close reads
    The Bachelor Gave Itself the Villain EditIn the show’s best season in years, Colton and Cassie ultimately chose to smash The Bachelor itself.
  10. bachelor nation
    The Bachelor Finale’s Hunt for Colton Was Basically a Horror MovieThe spectacle of crew members hunting the Portugal countryside for their escaped star was some of the scariest stuff the show has ever given us.
  11. tv review
    Hold on Tight, The Good Fight Season 3 Is a Wild RideThe series’s gloriously heady mishmash of the silly and the serious feels true to the experience of being alive today, for better or worse.
  12. tv review
    Whiskey Cavalier Is Sweet, Silly, and FamiliarThis ABC dramedy aims at goofy fun and actually hit its target.
  13. f marry kill
    Let’s Play ‘F, Marry, Kill’ With Netflix’s Dating AroundTime for some imaginary murder, betrothals, and flings.
  14. netflix
    How Dating Around Convinced ‘Ordinary’ People to Try Reality TV“We went to bridge clubs, we went to libraries, we went to bookstores. Places that weren’t necessarily top-level meat-market destinations.”
  15. oscars 2019
    Can You Guess the Oscar Film From the IMDb Parents Guide Content Warning?Worried about which Oscar nominees you can share with your children? So are others. Can you guess which movies the parents of IMDb are describing?
  16. reality tv
    Dating Around Is a Sneakily Great Reality ShowThe low-stakes Netflix show leans into everything that other dating shows aggressively avoid.
  17. bachelor nation
    If Women Have Power in the Bachelor-verse, Why Can’t They Propose?An ABC exec thinks that women have “a lot of power” in the Bachelor franchise. What about proposals, though?
  18. chat room
    Leslye Headland on Russian Doll, Harvey Weinstein, and Why NYC Is a ‘Graveyard’“We are haunting not only the people that lived and died in this city, but we’re also chasing our old selves.”
  19. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Russian Doll EndingWhat happens to Nadia, Alan, Oatmeal the cat, and all those twisty timelines?
  20. chat room
    J.K. Simmons on Counterpart, Acting, and Getting Really Jacked“I decided I wanted to try to stay as consistently fit and healthy as possible. Male ego, all that stuff.”
  21. reality tv
    The Bachelor Just Did Something UnprecedentedWhen Caelynn shared a painstaking account of her rape, the show didn’t edit real trauma into reality-TV drama.
  22. tv review
    Russian Doll Is a Brilliant, Surreal Show About Women in PowerWhich is why it’s such a bummer that Louis C.K.’s former manager is producing it.
  23. no day but yesterday
    The Highs and Lows of Rent: LiveThe live musical that wasn’t actually live. Until the very end.
  24. no day but yesterday
    Here’s Footage From the Actually Live Version of Rent That Fox Didn’t Air Roger in a wheelchair.
  25. close reads
    Why Is TV So Addicted to Crime?Crime shows have been a part of TV’s DNA from the very beginning. But what’s behind the genre’s stranglehold?
  26. tv
    You and The Magicians Showrunner Sera Gamble Is Having One Hell of a SeasonTalking creepy stalkers, fantasy worlds, and why every show should have a hookup-slash-murder scoreboard.
  27. tv review
    I Quit Watching The Magicians and That Was a Huge MistakeNow in its fourth season, the Syfy fantasy drama is a weird, dark, totally unpredictable romp.
  28. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Ending of You’s Season FinaleEverything to know about Joe, Beck, and that surprise twist at the very last second.
  29. tv review
    Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Back, Thank GodOn its new NBC home, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just as goofy, warm, and funny as ever.
  30. close reads
    Netflix Wants You to Fix Your Life, One Reality Show at a TimeThe hottest new thing in reality TV? The Joyful Expert.
  31. gripes
    Stop Using Game of Thrones Memes in PoliticsPlease, in the name of R’hllor, I beg you.
  32. tv review
    The Masked Singer Is a Reality-TV Fever DreamIt’s a warped, through-the-looking-glass vision of a singing competition. And it’s pretty entertaining.
  33. close reads
    Is Black Mirror: Bandersnatch the Dawn of Interactive TV?Bandersnatch is a leap forward for choose-your-own-adventure storytelling, but I hope it doesn’t spark a trend.
  34. black mirror
    The Easiest Way to Watch All the Black Mirror: Bandersnatch EndingsInstead of choosing your own adventure, just let Netflix do it for you.
  35. close reads
    Outlander Drew a Line Between Rape and Sex. Does It Need So Much Rape, Though?Season 4’s “Wilmington” threads a tricky narrative needle, and highlights the show’s frustrating reliance on sexual assault as a plot point.
  36. year in culture 2018
    In 2018, TV Didn’t Know How to StopFrom Barry and Homecoming to The Handmaid’s Tale and American Vandal, it’s the age of the unnecessary second season.
  37. year in culture 2018
    The Most Political TV Moments of 2018From Matt Damon’s Kavanaugh impression and The Good Fight’s pee-tape episode to Roseanne’s revival and downfall.
  38. tv review
    Ellen DeGeneres’s Netflix Special Is an Hour-long FlexEllen’s first special in 15 years revolves around a simple question: Is a world-famous TV star still relatable enough to be a comedian?
  39. tv review
    Marvel’s Runaways Finally Fulfills Its Premise, and Some of Its PromiseThe Hulu series improves by letting its superpowered teens finally run away from their evil parents — but it can’t fully escape them.
  40. close reads
    CBS’s Toxic Culture Isn’t Just Behind the Scenes. It’s in the Stories It Tells.The message of a show like Bull is clear: Men are in power and women are disposable.
  41. chat room
    Mrs. Maisel’s Michael Zegen Knows You Don’t Like Joel“I’m always surprised when people tell me, ‘Oh, I’m rooting for you.’ It’s like, really?”
  42. vulture lists
    The Best Hidden Jokes and Easter Eggs in The Good Place Season 3Prepare yourself for a tremendous number of puns.
  43. awards season
    The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2019 Golden Globe NominationsBlackKklansman lives! The Handmaid’s Tale, not so much.
  44. rompers
    Tony Shalhoub’s Mrs. Maisel Romper Is Spectacular“A romper, Joel. I wear a romper.”
  45. vulture lists
    The Most Definitively Amy Sherman-Palladino Parts of Mrs. Maisel Season TwoFrom a quirky canine companion to the indispensable dance competition, signature ASP flourishes abound in the series’s second season.
  46. tv review
    Counterpart Is Still Stuck Between Worlds in Season TwoIf only there were a version of this show that was exactly the same, but also slightly different.
  47. tv review
    A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding Is Just As Ridiculous As the OriginalSomething’s rotten in the state of Aldovia. Again.
  48. reunions
    A Scrubs Reunion: Talking Gags, GIFs, and ‘Guy Love’Cast and creator gathered for the first time since the finale to reflect on the beloved medical comedy’s legacy of weirdness and warmth.
  49. chat room
    Outlander Stars Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin on Brianna and Roger’s Future“It’s not a given that Roger and Bree’s relationship is going to work! It will be a will-they-won’t-they.”
  50. vulture festival la
    Cynthia Nixon Didn’t Think She Would Win the New York Governor Race“I hoped I would win. I tried to win. I’m proud of how much money [Cuomo] had to spend.”
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