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Close Reads

  1. close reads
    Let’s Talk About the Ending of Jordan Peele’s UsWatch yourself.
    By Jordan Crucchiola
  2. close reads
    High Maintenance and the Aspirational Kindness of The GuyHe’s a testament to thoughtful living through the sheer act of treating strangers with basic decency.
    By Vikram Murthi
  3. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  4. close reads
    Leaving Neverland and Surviving R. Kelly Ask Too Much of VictimsBoth demand an emotional labor that reveals how entrenched we are in rape culture, even as we attempt to pass a sweeping referendum on it.
    By Nylah Burton
  5. close reads
    Russian Doll’s Love Letter to Video GamesFrom respawns and fetch quests to non-playable characters, the Netflix show maps gaming tropes onto the reality of trauma.
    By Alex Barasch
  6. close reads
    True Detective and the Wave of Crime TV About Murky MemoryFrom fictional dramas to real-life docuseries, the biggest crime shows of the moment want us to reassess the past.
    By Jen Chaney
  7. close reads
    True Detective Season 3 Was a Blistering Case Against True CrimeThe occult dolls, spiral signatures, and prosecutorial misconduct were seductive catnip, not clues to help crack the mystery.
    By Kenny Herzog
  8. close reads
    The Magicians’ Queliot Episode Is a Landmark Moment For Slash FandomThe Syfy fantasy drama embraced a queer relationship that viewers pined for, but don’t call it fan service.
    By Alanna Bennett
  9. close reads
    True Detective’s Third Season Is Twin Peaks’ True HeirBy taking the right lessons from the apotheosis of small-town murder mysteries, the HBO series has distinguished itself beyond its central whodunit.
    By Sean T. Collins
  10. close reads
    The Wild Bunch Is Still the Best Western Ever MadeW.K. Stratton’s definitive new book details the movie’s death, destruction, and unexpected core of tenderness.
    By Chris Vognar
  11. close reads
    Russian Doll Has No Easy AnswersNatasha Lyonne’s mind-bending Netflix show is an exquisite blend of sci-fi, psychodrama, and parable.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  12. 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?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  13. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Russian Doll EndingWhat happens to Nadia, Alan, Oatmeal the cat, and all those twisty timelines?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  14. close reads
    From Groundhog Day to Russian Doll, the Inescapable Power of the Time LoopPop culture is no stranger to stories in which people keep reliving the same event. But Russian Doll digs into deeper territory.
    By Jen Chaney
  15. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  16. spoilers
    Why Do I Feel So Conflicted About Chidi and Eleanor on The Good Place?Chidi and Eleanor’s relationship doesn’t always feel natural, yet I’m still rooting for this sitcom couple to end up together.
    By Jen Chaney
  17. 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?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  18. close reads
    Temptation Island Hasn’t Changed. We Have.The 2001 series was an unprecedented experiment in reality-TV romance. A new reboot shows how far the form, and its audience, have come since then.
    By Brian Moylan
  19. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  20. close reads
    What The Good Place Teaches Us About Politics“The Book of Dougs” makes a sly political point, but it’s not made in blatantly political terms.
    By Jen Chaney
  21. close reads
    In Defense of The Sopranos’ ShagginessEighty-six episodes is a lot of TV, but The Sopranos used its long run to build a rich, deep, and utterly believable world.
    By Kyle McGovern
  22. close reads
    Netflix Wants You to Fix Your Life, One Reality Show at a TimeThe hottest new thing in reality TV? The Joyful Expert.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  23. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  24. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  25. close reads
    Husbands Are a Liability, According to Movies in 2018Are you in the mood to have your career thwarted? Good. Marry a man, he will mess it it up.
    By Hunter Harris
  26. close reads
    Pop Music Was 2018’s Greatest Movie VillainIn Vox Lux and A Star Is Born, pop stardom represents an alluring but unhealthy temptation.
    By Nate Jones
  27. role call
    Sarah Jessica Parker Answers Every Question We Have About The Family Stone“You probably know the movie better than I do, I’ve only seen it once.”
    By Hunter Harris
  28. close reads
    Barry Jenkins and Stephan James on Beale Street’s Most Devastating SceneIf Beale Street Could Talk quietly observes two black men talking through their trauma.
    By Hunter Harris
  29. 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.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  30. close reads
    The Women of Superstore Are Busting Taboos and Breaking BarriersA relentless revision of established tropes about female sexuality and pregnancy has taken the NBC sitcom to the next level.
    By Rachel Dunphy
  31. close reads
    My Brilliant Friend and the Relatable Horror of Elena’s ZitsIt isn’t merely that teenage Elena has acne, but how exquisitely all those pimples function as a (forsaken) facet of her character.
    By Hillary Kelly
  32. close reads
    The Hidden Meaning Behind My Brilliant Friend’s Neapolitan DialectIf Neapolitan is the language of Lenù and Lila’s imprisoning neighborhood, then Italian is the language of social mobility.
    By Justin Davidson
  33. close reads
    The Alluring Melancholy of Ambrose Spellman on Chilling AdventuresIn praise of the Netflix show’s mysterious brooding warlock.
    By Lauren Michele Jackson
  34. close reads
    Let’s Talk About the ‘Jazzercise Scene’ in CamMadeline Brewer explains the horrors of watching yourself die.
    By Jordan Crucchiola
  35. close reads
    The Haunting of Hill House and the Madness of FamilyHorror is about the ghouls we know and what goes bump in the night, and especially the place where those two become one.
    By Lauren Michele Jackson
  36. homecoming
    Homecoming’s Season Finale Sticks It to the ManIt’s an immensely satisfying ending.
    By Jen Chaney
  37. close reads
    The Legacy and the Lunacy of House of CardsThe show’s final season considers serious issues raised by the 2016 election, and it also gets completely nuts.
    By Jen Chaney
  38. close reads
    The Romanoffs’ Misconduct Episode Is Depressing and UnnecessaryAs a defense of an accused man, “Bright and High Circle” fails as both a drama and a polemic.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  39. close reads
    In Defense of Prudence Night on Chilling Adventures of SabrinaFrom the beginning, Prudence is more than a mere mean girl.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  40. close reads
    The Good Place Isn’t About Heaven and Hell, It’s About the InternetThis sitcom proves that TV can still bring people together in the streaming age.
    By Lara Zarum
  41. close reads
    What Sorry for Your Loss Understands About Mourning a Loved OneIt’s emotional work to watch this sterling Facebook Watch series.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  42. spoilers
    The Profound Grief of The Haunting of Hill HouseIt’s not a paranormal story so much as a meditation on the way trauma maims the living. And it’s scary as hell.
    By Lindsey Romain
  43. close reads
    Murphy Brown’s Righteous, Furious, Flawed Protest Against Sarah Huckabee SandersSure, it’s liberal wish-fulfillment. But isn’t that the point?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  44. close reads
    The Hollow Joys of Insecure Season ThreeMuch like Issa herself, Insecure needs to decide what it wants to be.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  45. tv review
    Which This Is Us–esque Show Has the Most Potential?God Friended Me or A Million Little Things?
    By Jen Chaney
  46. close reads
    Night School Calls Out the ‘Blaccent’ in a Way Other Comedies Have NotIt doesn’t let the Pretty Fly for a White Guy off the hook.
    By Bethy Squires
  47. politics
    The Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was Disturbing, Dramatic TVHow the Senate hearing about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual-assault allegations became a strange, exhausting TV show.
    By Jen Chaney
  48. close reads
    Why The Good Place Keeps Rebooting ItselfThe show is its own philosophical thought experiment. And that’s why it’s so great.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  49. close reads
    How BoJack Horseman Addresses the Silencing of WomenIn BoJack’s very meta fifth season, women are ignored and assert themselves in spite of it.
    By Jen Chaney
  50. close reads
    Maya Rudolph Is a Revelation on ForeverI hate to break out this hoary cliché, but it fits.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
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