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Close Reads

  1. close reads
    Here’s Why Lorde’s ‘Supercut’ Is Melodrama’s Best TrackIn Lorde’s world, love’s end can feel as giddy as its beginning.
    By Frank Guan
  2. close reads
    Lorde Has Accurately Defined Her Peers As ‘Generation L.O.V.E.L.E.S.S.’She’s written another generational anthem.
    By Dee Lockett
  3. close reads
    In Praise of Dougie Jones, the Biggest Tease in the New Twin PeaksThe bizarrely hilarious character is Twin Peaks at its best.
    By VIkram Murthi
  4. game of thrones
    What We Learned From the Game of Thrones Season 7 TrailerAn unlikely sex scene is seemingly on the way.
    By Jackson McHenry
  5. close reads
    What Fire Walk With Me May Tell Us About the New Twin PeaksIt will be “very important to understanding” the reboot.
    By Jen Chaney
  6. Why Twin Peaks Is Not the Series We’ve Convinced Ourselves It WasHere are seven things you need to keep in mind as you watch the show.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  7. Why the Female Villains on The Handmaid’s Tale Are So TerrifyingThe series is most trenchant when it examines the ways women are complicit in patriarchal structures.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  8. Why Do Teen Dramas Like Riverdale Keep Sidelining Black Female Characters?From The Craft to Bring It On.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  9. The Handmaid’s Tale’s Closing Songs Are Slyly Genius“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” may not seem like it belongs in this show. But it does.
    By Jen Chaney
  10. close reads
    When Modern TV Gets Medieval: A Close Read of The Leftovers and American GodsIn American Gods and The Leftovers, the past is prologue.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  11. close reads
    How 13 Reasons Why’s Mystery Structure Undermines Its Message About SuicideNo matter how nuanced the show would like to be about suicide, its basic building blocks are at odds with that.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  12. close reads
    Why The Handmaid’s Tale’s Voice-over Works So Unusually WellConsidering how rarely voice-over works on TV, the fact that Handmaid’s does feels like something close to miraculous.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  13. close reads
    Why The Leftovers’ Pop-Culture References Are So GoodUltimately, they underline the central question of the series.
    By Jen Chaney
  14. close reads
    In Praise of Hannah and Her Mother on GirlsThe finale’s greatest strength is their scene together, and what it tells us.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  15. close reads
    Why Lena Dunham Is Such a Great Actress on GirlsHannah Horvath has been a maddening, compelling, and memorable character. Lena Dunham’s unapologetic portrayal of her is a big reason why.
    By Jen Chaney
  16. close reads
    How Girls Breaks the Traditional Rules of the Friendship ComedyThe HBO series was always about what happens when young women grow up and grow apart.
    By Jen Chaney
  17. close reads
    Why Bonnie, Big Little Lies’ Most Underwritten Character, Deserved MoreOn Big Little Lies, perfection is impossible, and women’s interior lives should be recognized… unless you’re a black woman, apparently.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  18. the resistance
    The Activism of Elizabeth and Paige on The AmericansIf the show had more pop-culture appeal, you might have seen Elizabeth’s face on banners at the Women’s March.
    By Lindsey Romain
  19. close reads
    Big Little Lies Was, Above All Else, a Commentary on Gender BiasEven the Greek chorus was a reminder of the way all of us prejudge women.
    By Jen Chaney
  20. close reads
    In Praise of Big Little Lies’ ‘Ban All Men’ EndingThe show’s final image says it all.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  21. close reads
    Let’s Talk About the Ending of Big Little LiesWe know who died, and we know who did it. How do we feel about it?
    By Jen Chaney
  22. close reads
    The Rise of Elijah on GirlsGive him his spinoff now.
    By Jen Chaney
  23. close reads
    Why This Is Feud’s Best Bette and Joan Scene to DateThey finally come across as real, complex women.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  24. close reads
    What Would a Hannah-Adam Endgame Look Like on Girls?In the final season of Girls, will Hannah and Adam reunite?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  25. close reads
    The Good Fight Has an Identity CrisisAnd it’s also really good.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  26. close reads
    Why This is Us Is More Popular Than Friday Night Lights and Parenthood Ever WereUnlike those shows, This Is Us reassures its audience that everything happens for a reason.
    By Jen Chaney
  27. close reads
    The Bachelor Is Dead, Long Live The BacheloretteThe Bachelor pivoted, as hard and as quickly as it could, away from Nick and Vanessa.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  28. close reads
    Why Big Little Lies Shouldn’t Be Dismissed As Escapist FareIt’s so much more than that.
    By Jen Chaney
  29. close reads
    Why There’s Never Been a Female Rivalry Like Faith and Buffy’sModern TV needs to take a page from this feud.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  30. close reads
    Why Won’t Critics Let Natalie Portman Grow Up?Being an actress often means having your body up for discussion in uncomfortable ways.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  31. close reads
    Why The Americans Premiere Feels Like an ’80s Teen MovieDon’t you, forget about Paige.
    By Jen Chaney
  32. close reads
    The Pregnancy Plot: How TV Shows Use Motherhood to Force Characters to Grow UpIt’s been a beloved device for working women on television going back to Murphy Brown.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  33. close reads
    Big Little Lies’ Best Investigations Are Not About MurderThe therapy scenes are unlike anything else on the show.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  34. close reads
    Reese Witherspoon’s Big Little Lies Performance Is the Best of Her CareerIt comes back to Tracy Flick. But it also goes deeper.
    By Jen Chaney
  35. close reads
    Why Corinne Was Never Really a Bachelor VillainShe couldn’t quite pull it off.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  36. close reads
    Girls: How the Patrick Wilson Episode Compares to the Matthew Rhys Episode“One Man’s Trash” and “American Bitch” reveal a lot about Hannah Horvath.
    By Jen Chaney
  37. close reads
    TV’s Newest Genre: Beautiful People Behaving Badly by the SeaWhy Big Little Lies is the latest and greatest example.
    By Jen Chaney
  38. close reads
    How The Good Fight Handled the Trump QuestionThe CBS spinoff needed sudden rewrites after the election. Let’s take a close look at those changes.
    By Lauren Hoffman
  39. close reads
    How Jidenna’s ‘Classic Man’ Ended Up In MoonlightJidenna, whose ‘Classic Man’ soundtracks one of Moonlight’s best scenes, wishes he had a copy of the chopped and screwed mix.
    By Hunter Harris
  40. close reads
    Why Keanu Reeves Is Such an Unusual (and Great) Action StarHe works in both the tradition of Hong Kong action films and classic Hollywood.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  41. close reads
    Legion and the Curse of the Untouchable GirlSyd Barrett can only be admired from afar.
    By Lux Alptraum
  42. close reads
    The Forgotten Legacy of Archie Comics’ Terrible, Delightful Made-for-TV MovieArchie: To Riverdale and Back Again is cringeworthy, but also kind of wonderful. And its creators loved making it.
    By Abraham Riesman
  43. close reads
    Love Is Officially Dead on The BachelorLong live our new favorite show, Bachelor subtext.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  44. close looks
    In Praise of Mandy Moore on This Is UsAnd everything else she’s been in.
    By Mayukh Sen
  45. close reads
    Why Girls Is So Good When It Leaves New York CityOutside, everything is clearer, simpler, more candid.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  46. close reads
    When SNL Makes Fart Jokes and the Audience Expects Donald Trump ResistanceSNL had a classic meh episode when the expectations were higher than ever.
    By Jesse David Fox
  47. close reads
    When Did TV Get So Meta?Self-aware, fourth-wall-busting television is still everywhere. But what makes meta good versus bad?
    By Jen Chaney
  48. close reads
    Santa Clarita Diet Is Really About a Husband’s Fear of His WifeIt continually returns to the idea of how suspiciously men regard positive female transformation.
    By Lindsey Romain
  49. close reads
    RoboCop Is the Most Misunderstood Satire of the Past 30 YearsThe new series APB is the latest project to misunderstand the message of Paul Verhoeven’s film.
    By Abraham Riesman
  50. close reads
    Why Jane the Virgin’s Gut Punch Was a Good ThingIt’s a testament to how carefully crafted the show is.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
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