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Close Reads

  1. close reads
    Donald Glover, Atlanta, and Black Justin BieberAtlanta’s comedy of menace.
    By Jesse David Fox
  2. close reads
    How High Maintenance Subverts the Gay Man–Straight Woman RelationshipWelcome to gay Misery.
    By E. Alex Jung
  3. close reads
    Atlanta’s Zan Is the Perfect Send-up of the Social-Media StarZan is a villain only Atlanta could make work.
    By Dee Lockett
  4. close reads
    Fallon’s Trump Segment in Historical ContextRemember that time Jack Paar interviewed Fidel Castro?
    By Josef Adalian
  5. close reads
    Why Halt and Catch Fire’s HIV Narrative Is So Unusual It blends together two histories in a way we don’t usually see.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  6. In Defense of the Narcos Narrator (and Why It Doesn’t Work in Season Two)The things that made it work for season one are also the same things that make it feel stilted and useless for season two.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  7. close reads
    What Pamela Adlon’s Work on Louie Tells Us About Better ThingsWhat we learned from revisiting the episodes Adlon wrote.
    By Jackson McHenry
  8. close reads
    Why Chandra on The Night Of Deserved Way BetterChandra on The Night Of was a victim of poor character development.
    By Jen Chaney
  9. close reads
    That Scene From You’re the Worst and How to Process ItSo about that violent ending to the first episode of season three …
    By Jen Chaney
  10. close reads
    Why Stories About Making Things Are Hard to TellTV’s endlessly circling do-overs don’t always make for satisfying escapism.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  11. close reads
    Why Mr. Robot’s Karaoke Scene Was So EffectiveMr. Robot returned to form this week. All it needed, apparently, was Tears for Fears.
    By Jen Chaney
  12. close reads
    How Amazon’s I Love Dick Proves Its Worth in One SceneI Love Dick deserves a full-season pickup and it proves that in just one scene from its pilot.
    By Jen Chaney
  13. close reads
    Where The Night Of Goes Wrong on Race and Criminal JusticeIn the universe writers Richard Price and Steven Zaillian have created, the chief agents of Islamophobia are black men. 
    By Mayukh Sen
  14. close reads
    Mr. Robot and Why TV Twists Don’t Work AnymoreI wouldn’t mind seeing a moratorium on this kind of screenwriting.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  15. close reads
    The Beauty and Frustration of Sports As Social CommentarySports stories that become gateways for social commentary are so alluring. But are they always effective?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  16. close reads
    Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, and the Value of Less Advance HypeStranger Things, unlike most of this year’s summer movies, is still generating conversation online. And it’s doing it without months of excessive hype.
    By Jen Chaney
  17. close reads
    How 2007 Are BoJack Horseman’s 2007 Jokes?From Jessica Biel to Ed Hardy.
    By Jackson McHenry
  18. close reads
    In Praise of Stranger Things’ Akira ParallelsDid you catch the similarities?
    By Abraham Riesman
  19. close reads
    What Criminal Justice Tells Us About The Night Of and NazThe British series that inspired HBO’s procedural may provide some clues about what will ultimately happen to Naz.
    By Jen Chaney
  20. close reads
    In Praise of the Stand-alone Episode of TVThey jolt us out of complacency.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  21. close reads
    Deep Down, BoJack Horseman Is a Hopeful ShowThis is, without a doubt, a bleak show. But it contains hints of optimism, and glimmers of The Simpsons and Pixar.
    By Jen Chaney
  22. close reads
    KUWTK Helps Kim Tell a Better Story Than Taylor The Kardashians have long used the controlled narrative power of KUWTK to manage significant developments in their public lives. 
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  23. close reads
    The Night Of: The Scene That Changes EverythingWe like stories about crimes that get resolutions because they allow us to vicariously experience social disorder and a return to status quo.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  24. trends
    The Rise of Women’s Pictures on TelevisionThe classic Hollywood genre never went away — it just moved to a different medium.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  25. close reads
    On Game of Thrones, Sansa’s Revenge Is Nothing to Smile AboutSmile at your own risk.
    By Sean T. Collins
  26. close reads
    Why Didn’t Sansa Tell Jon Snow Her Plan on Game of Thrones?Some theories.
    By Nate Jones
  27. close reads
    OITNB Shows Sympathy for Aggressors in Season 4But in the end, it’s the vulnerable who the system does not protect.
    By Jen Chaney
  28. close reads
    O.J.: Made in America Gives Us a Human Portrayal of Nicole BrownNicole Brown was a victim of murder. But in the ESPN O.J. Simpson documentary, she’s also a human being and a strong woman.
    By Jen Chaney
  29. close reads
    Jaime and Brienne’s Relationship Isn’t SexualStop shipping.
    By Sean T. Collins
  30. close reads
    Why’d Game of Thrones’ Antiwar Speech Change?The book’s antiwar monologue was crucial to understanding the whole series, and that change demands special scrutiny.
    By Sean T. Collins
  31. close reads
    What Paige Jennings Tells Us About Where The Americans Will Go NextPaige is the key to understanding what lies ahead on The Americans, because her choices dictate her whole family’s future.
    By Jen Chaney
  32. close reads
    Has Game of Thrones Solved Its Woman Problem?As last night’s Yara Greyjoy scene demonstrated, Game of Thrones is doing a better job this season of putting women in the power seat.
    By Jen Chaney
  33. close reads
    Why Watching UnREAL Makes Watching The Bachelor So Much BetterWe know it’s fake — but we also know it’s real.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  34. close reads
    Grey’s Anatomy Is a Much Better Show Than It Gets Credit ForIt’s not only a victory for diverse representation on TV, but a vital work of narrative intricacy.
    By Rakesh Satyal
  35. close reads
    Why Did That Jane the Virgin Finale Scene Make You Cry? “Yo Michael te tomo a ti Jane …”
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  36. close reads
    The Americans Is the Best It’s Ever Been in Season 4The last two episodes are among the best hours the show has produced.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  37. close reads
    In Praise of Tiago, JtV’s Show-Within-a-ShowIf you want to know what makes Jane work so astoundingly well, you could do worse than sitting down to take a hard look at Tiago’s Travels Through Time.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  38. close reads
    What’s Wrong With Game of Thrones’ Dorne Plot?Why has every scene in Dorne been so bad?
    By Nate Jones
  39. close reads
    All the Clues That Could Have Tipped You Off About MelisandreOur favorite red priestess has hinted before that she could pull something like this off.
    By Jennifer Vineyard
  40. close reads
    The Broad City That Broad City Could BeDoes it have what it takes to become a pantheon series?
    By Jenny Jaffe
  41. close reads
    Chuck McGill Is Better Call Saul’s Version of Skyler WhiteBut the situation’s a lot more nuanced than that.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  42. close reads
    Hannah Horvath, Why Do We (Still) Hate Thee So?This has dogged Girls from the very beginning, and the drumbeats are sounding once again.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  43. close reads
    What Outlander’s Credits Tell Us About Season TwoSay, could that lass be I? 
    By Tara Abell
  44. close reads
    Billions Was a More Fascinating Show in Its Second HalfI bailed on Billions after the fourth episode, and I’m (mostly) glad I revisited it.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  45. close reads
    The O.J. Trial Closing Arguments vs. the FX ShowSeveral hours of arguments were compressed into minutes for TV.
    By Brian Tallerico
  46. close reads
    People v. O.J.: A Vivid Portrait of AmericaThe sprawling civic lament that the movie version of The Bonfire of the Vanities should have been, but wasn’t. 
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  47. close reads
    Why Better Call Saul Is the Anti–Breaking BadWhere Vince Gilligan’s original AMC crime drama was plot-driven to a fault, the follow-up is more relaxed.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  48. close reads
    The Carmichael Show’s Provocative Cosby EpisodeIf you want sitcoms that are directly connected to life, it’s a good time to be watching TV.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  49. close reads
    Black-ish’s ‘Hope’ Follows in the Tradition of Great Norman Lear SitcomsWith last night’s episode, it went from a good show to a great one.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  50. close reads
    In Defense of Chris Carter’s Latest Season of The X-FilesSeason ten had its flaws, but after revisiting all six episodes, I believe it’s the virtues that will resonate over time.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
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