📺 Running up that hill
Chrissy, wake up! We released our first ever episode of the Double Take podcast this week. In it we cover our thoughts on the first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building, season 2. We hope you give it a listen and subscribe! (You can find it on Apple and Spotify). In addition to Only Murders, we’ll discuss our thoughts and theories on all sorts of new and popular shows as we watch in real time. Follow along and let us know what you’d like us to talk about next.
In today’s edition:
Gordita Chronicles
Shadow and Bone
Stranger Things, Season 4, Vol. 2
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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Where we each choose a recent-ish show to review and feature.
If you’re looking for something appropriate for all ages, try… Gordita Chronicles
Keywords: family sitcom, immigrants, Miami, 80s
Watch if you like: One Day at a Time, The Wonder Years, Fresh Off the Boat
Jess’s Rating: B
It’s rare that I like a sitcom right from the first episode, but Gordita Chronicles shines from its first moments. That’s likely due to the straightforward charm of the show; unlike many sitcoms of the last decade, it’s not mocking or sardonic and its characters aren’t walking caricatures. Although it’s on HBO, it really is a classic family sitcom reminiscent of a typical network comedy.
Executive produced by Eva Longoria and Zoe Saldaña, Gordita Chronicles follows a family that moves to Miami from the Dominican Republic when the patriarch gets a job as VP of the Latin American division of an American airline company. Although they dream of a big house with a white picket fence, they end up at an apartment complex in a lower-middle-class neighborhood. Adding an aura of nostalgia, the show is set in the 80s and is narrated from the future, à la The Wonder Years and Everybody Hates Chris.
The show is so compulsively watchable because, although it deals with the family struggling with culture shock, it does so in a lighthearted way. Although the telling of the experience of an immigrant family is relatively new, the rest of the formula is not; the characters end up in comedic situations that remind me of those seen in shows from the 50s and 60s like Bewitched or I Love Lucy. There’s nothing comedically groundbreaking happening here, just a lot of heart and a family that you’ll want to spend more time with.
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 10 episodes
Watch on: HBO Max
If anything high fantasy makes your “to watch” list, try… Shadow and Bone
Keywords: high fantasy, drama, mystery
Watch if you like: Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, The Magicians
Jenni’s Rating: C-
This adaptation of a series of novels by Leigh Bardugo is based loosely on the geopolitical landscape of Tsarist Russia. Except this version includes magic and a threatening dark entity called “The Fold” that contains monsters and splits the world in half.
The first season of Shadow and Bone follows a typical Chosen One narrative. Orphan and outcast Alina Starkov works as a mapmaker on the front lines of a perpetually war-torn country called Ravka when one day, during an attack while crossing The Fold, she discovers that she belongs to the Grisha — a group of humans with abilities to manipulate the elements. Her particular power could destroy The Fold and bring peace, so naturally it puts a huge target on her back. Into Alina’s story are woven two main side narratives about a smuggling crew and shipwrecked enemies-to-lovers from opposing sides of the war. If that seems like it could make the plot a bit crowded and hard to follow, you’re not wrong.
I tore through this show mainly because I was sick and had nothing else to do, but it has a similar appeal to Wheel of Time. There’s intrigue, broken alliances, love triangles, and a few characters with charmingly witty one-liners. Not impeccably done TV, but does the job as far as high fantasy goes.
Length: 45-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
True to our title, in this segment we each give our take on the same show. Will we see eye to eye?
Stranger Things - Season 4, Vol. 2
🚨🚨🚨WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD🚨🚨🚨
The second part (2 episodes) of the 4th season of Stranger Things was released on Netflix on Friday. Both episodes are the length of a full movie. Does the second part of this season redeem itself after our lackluster opinions of the first part? Both of us are weighing in with our thoughts this week.
Length: S4 Vol. 2 clocks in at 4 hours of runtime
Watch on: Netflix
I think part of my problem with these episodes is that I don’t love sci-fi/horror movies as much as I like the genre’s TV shows, and the Duffer Brothers essentially made this a season full of feature-length horror movies.
The entire Part 2 of Season 4 felt like a really long (unnecessarily intense?) setup for the final season — I get the need for transition episodes, but almost 3 hours of transition…oof. I’m glad everything is falling into place for the final smackdown between El and One, and that the gang’s finally all back together again, but I kind of wish it had all happened faster. The number one thing that takes me out of any show I’m watching is weird or bad pacing, and that’s my main gripe with this latter part, but also the whole of Season 4 of Stranger Things.
Jenni’s Rating: B-
On the positive side, I mostly enjoyed these two episodes. They were fun to watch and visually impressive. Having the gang all working together, even from afar, was a delight, and I was happy to watch them finally reunite.
For the negative: The Duffer brothers did a good job of weaving in more of One’s backstory, but something about it still feels a bit forced to me, like this wasn’t their plan all along and they only thought of it when they were writing this season. And these two episodes felt a lot like an extra long set-up for the next season, which could have been ok had the last half hour not been so anti-climactic.
Maybe that’s too nit-picky, but I’m bummed out since we’ll likely have to wait until 2024 for more episodes. But in the end, if my main negative feedback is just that I’m annoyed to have to wait for the next season, then I guess they did a good job.
Jess’s Rating: A-
Your shows, returned:
Good Trouble, Season 4: Returns from hiatus July 7 on Freeform
Tuca & Bertie, Season 3: Premieres July 10 on Adult Swim (and on HBO Max the following day)
Grantchester, Season 7: Premieres July 10 on PBS
Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 7: Premieres July 11 on Bravo
The Bachelorette, Season 19: Premieres July 11 on ABC (and on Hulu the following day)
Better Call Saul, Season 6 Part 2: Premieres July 11 on AMC/AMC+
Chad, Season 2: Premieres July 11 on TBS
What We Do in the Shadows, Season 4: Premieres July 12 on FX (and on Hulu the following day)
Fboy Island, Season 2: Premieres July 14 on HBO Max
Upcoming new releases:
Moonhaven: Premieres July 7 on AMC+
Trigger Point: Released July 8 on Peacock
Boo, Bitch: Released July 8 on Netflix
Black Bird: Premieres July 8 on Apple TV+
SkyMed: Premieres July 10 on Paramount+
Everything’s Trash: Premieres July 13 on Freeform (and on Hulu the following day)
Resident Evil: Released July 14 on Netflix