Women, war and a Western
TELEVISION
While television offered more than enough escape from the anxieties and outrages of life in 2017, it also found plenty of contextual and thematic relevance to kick around — sometimes intentional, sometimes just coincidental. I’ve never had a better time doing my job or a harder time picking my yearly favorites. Here they are. as showrunner Bruce Miller and his writers seeded the story with added hints of a resistance afoot in Gilead, the theocratically fascist country once known as the USA.
(PBS). Years in the making, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 10-part documentary series took viewers back through the many decades of diplomatic blunders that led to America’s misguided war in Vietnam. Some quibbled with it, but, in the era of “fake news,” it was reassuring to see a project so thoroughly devoted to sticking to the facts.
(HBO). With a touch of feminist resilience for viewers who can’t quite stomach “The Handmaid’s Tale,” this seven-episode miniseries features an unlikely assembly of heroines (played by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz) who are swept up in a backward-spun murder mystery (based on Liane Moriarty’s novel) that takes place in a well-off coastal community. It’s a moody and addictive deep-dive on relationships, class and envy. another during the filming of their 1962 sleeper hit “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” The show also skillfully elicited viewers’ sympathy and a bit of outrage at how the industry mistreats its most talented women.
(HBO). Issa Rae and company took what was already a pretty good dramedy and deepened it. “Insecure” both embraces and subverts the young woman/ big city story template, and it’s not afraid of pessimistic, downbeat outcomes. At its center is a failed relationship between fictional Issa and Lawrence (Jay Ellis) that has provided some of the year’s most honest scenes about heartbreak. “Insecure” retains an ebulliently hilarious and provocative tone — always great fun to watch.
(Netflix). Another show about women discovering their own strength? Absolutely. This semi-fictional take on the mid-1980s dawn of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling circuit could be viewed as a direct blow to the misogynistic tendencies of then and now. But mostly it’s just a hoot to watch, thanks to a superb ensemble cast headed by Alison Brie.
(Netflix). Yeehaw, it’s a real Western (at last), featuring a broad vista of the genre’s essential narrative conflicts and a particularly strong focus on the iffy morals of the 19thcentury frontier. Michelle Dockery is outstanding as a determined horse rancher who lives on the edge of a small town populated by women who all lost their husbands in a mining disaster. A showdown between a notorious bandit (Jeff Daniels) and his conflicted protege (Jack O’Connell) threatens to take the town down with it. It’s a wild and instantly compelling ride.