Somebody Somewhere
A feel-good watch that dropped in January, but which I stumbled on to just now. Somebody Somewhere, set in familiar small-town America made famous by many a dramedy, takes the mundane and weaves it into a heartwarming story about optimism, human connection, the importance of family and how one, ultimately, clamours for the feeling of belonging.
To be honest, there isn’t much in Somebody Somewhere that one hasn’t seen before. But the realness of its players — anchored by a brilliant Bridget Everett as Sam — is what draws you to the series. Set in Manhattan, Kansas, the seven-episode watch explores the void in Sam’s life — a single, lonely woman in her 40s — when her sister, who she had moved cities to care for, passes on. Sam embodies the middle-aged woman, worn down by expectations, who seeks happiness but not validation.
She finds a wonderful new friend in Joel — compellingly played by Jeff Hiller — and embarks on a journey of self-discovery that’s imbued with loss and loneliness but also with quiet hope and the fact that we need to grant ourselves the freedom to find joy in the shadow of loss.
Parts of Somebody Somewhere (a second season has already been greenlit) will remind you of Schitt’s Creek, mostly tonally and in terms of its setting, but this is writing (the show is created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen) which is wholly original and more often than not strikes a chord. Everett, who is also a prolific singer, is a tour de force in what is described as a semi-autobiographical turn. And boy, can she rock a Janis Joplin song!
Available on: Disney+Hotstar
No Exit
If you aren’t grossed out by the sight of blood — and there’s plenty of it here — then No Exit does provide some popcorn thrills, even if it doesn’t push the limits of the genre. The story is largely generic — a roomful of people caught in the middle of a blizzard, followed by the unearthing of a kidnapping where everyone is a suspect till one (or a couple of them) soon go off on a murderous spree. The film, which doesn’t overstay its welcome, has some well-done twists and turns and is sufficiently suspenseful.
However, the makers, working within the framework of a wafer-thin plot, get too carried away with the blood and gore, with one bloody action set piece following another. A nail gun soon becomes a potent weapon, and a few grisly contrivances later, No Exit limps towards a predictable end. If you do tune in, watch it for an impressive central performance from Havana Rose Liu.
Available on: Disney+Hotstar
Anatomy Of A Scandal
A promising cast, a potentially explosive story and some pertinent questions at its core — Anatomy of a Scandal has all this and more. Created by David E. Kelley — the man behind winner TV like Doogie Howser, MD, Boston Legal, Chicago Hope and Big Little Lies, to name a few — Anatomy of a Scandal is based on the Sarah Vaughan-written novel of the same name and explores the tricky area of consent in a sexual relationship.
Playing out over six episodes, Anatomy of a Scandal stars Rupert Friend as a Tory politician and on-the-surface family man whose brief affair with a subordinate blows up in his face when she accuses him of rape. The series subsequently metamorphoses into a courtroom drama, with the story relying on a string of unreliable narrators to sustain its tension. What works for the show is the fact that it asks some tough questions and doesn’t shy away from exploring the morally grey areas. A strong ensemble cast, with Sienna Miller turning in a solid act as the wife of a philandering husband who knows there’s more than what meets the eye, is what keeps you invested (just about) in Anatomy of a Scandal when the going gets tough. So does the gorgeous London urban topography.
But a wandering plot, too many loopholes in the narrative and a predilection for cheap theatrics that push the series into pot-boilerish zone is what ultimately undoes Anatomy of a Scandal. An absurdist twist does the series no favours and neither does the riscible dialogue where the characters often seem to be reading out lines peppered with words like “acquiesce” and “chuffed” than having a conversation. Still, if you have about six hours to spare, Anatomy of a Scandal just about passes muster on the binge-able meter.
Available on: Netflix