What I Watched in 2024

 Everwood

I last watched multiple seasons of Everwood for summer rewatch blog posts 8-12 years ago. How time passes. Since those rewatches, Stephanie Niznik passed away in 2019, and Treat Williams and John Beasley passed away in 2023. Whatever remote chances existed of the show’s revival likely ended when Treat died. After Stephanie Niznik’s passing, I imagined a possible revival in which Andy grieves the loss of a second wife. Now, though, the series forever remains in the early-to-mid 2000s. 

I always thought Treat Williams brought such warmth and tenderness to Andy Brown, which often plays against the character of Andy Brown, who often makes bad choices, whether it’s running a pregnant Madison out of town or having an affair with a stroke victim’s wife, for example. I never feel aggrieved by Andy’s choices even as Dr. Abbott runs him down for prescribing birth control pills to his daughter. Treat played Andy as charmingly aloof. 

In season one, he plays a grieving and lost Andy, who struggles to raise two children while trying to perform a miracle on Colin Hart. In season two, he plays a guilt-ridden Andy after Colin’s death until his arc with Linda starts, and then he makes a drastic turn by banishing Madison from Everwood. The Madison storyline, which starts in “The Day is Done”, begets more ill-advised storylines. I read somewhere that Treat disliked the Amanda storyline in season 3. He played Andy as troubled and conflicted, but I never thought, “Oh, Andy, what’s wrong with you? What are you doing?” I always attributed it to poor writing, but maybe Treat felt detached from the material. By season 4, the writers stopped giving him bad storylines. He played a wiser, more content Andy, one who made peace with Ephram, his father, and his place in Everwood, and he receives a happy ending with Nina. 

Stephanie Niznik shined the most in seasons three and four as Nina dates Jake, becomes an entrepreneur, and falls into a love triangle with Jake and Andy. In seasons one and two, Nina plays the town whisperer and sage guide for Andy. The love story between them never worked for me, perhaps because Andy was too self-absorbed to ever see Nina as more than his platonic best friend and next-door neighbor, or because it became central only when Rina Mimoun became showrunner. They personified platonic friendship in the first two seasons before its sudden shift in early season three. 

Season one remains my favorite season. The season-long arc around Colin is wonderfully heartbreaking. The two episodes with Reverend Keyes are superb. Their abortion episode is well-done. “Home” is an exemplary finale. 

Season two, long marred by the Madison of it all, played better for me in 2024. Gregory Smith plays Ephram’s broken-heartedness deftly well as his first relationship with Madison deteriorates. The Abbott family drama is poignant and emotional as Harold and Rose struggle to help Amy as she falls into a depression after Colin’s death, which leads to good drama between Amy and Ephram, Harold and Andy, and Bright and Amy,  Ephram’s friendship with Bright brings necessary levity to a dark season. Marcia Cross was wonderful as Linda, as is the story of Harold trying to hold onto his baby sister. 

Season three played better for me. I watched the season in no logical order, starting from the backend of the season, going to “Staking Claim”, and then to “Surprise” and “A Mountain Town.” I watched the back half multiple times, because I continued after watching “Surprise” and “A Mountain Town.” Later, I watched the first two episodes, and then, again, later, started the Amanda Hayes stretch, which has a lot of good Amy and Ephram stuff. 

Season three is flawed. I used to criticize it mercilessly. I’ll never enjoy the unnecessarily long Amanda Hayes storyline. Bright’s various misdeeds and misadventures service the character’s rehabilitation and eventual relationship with Hannah, but one’s investment in Bright/Hannah probably makes the difference in how one feels about the preamble to it. I think the writers did the best they could with the Madison baby storyline. They wrung the maximum amount of drama from the storyline, using it to undo all natural progress Ephram and Andy made as well as destroy the Amy and Ephram relationship. It is a volcanic storyline. The antidote to it is the great Rose-has-cancer storyline, which brings the characters again. The story acts as an abridged version of the Colin Hart story and as an addendum to Dr. Donald’s surgery. Again, characters think Andy’s surgery skills have rusted, leading to friction between him and Harold (again). Ephram offers to stay for Amy, only to realize that he pushed her away. 

Season four is a fine season, one that I rewatched most of in a random order, though I never completed the rewatch this time. I always remember this season as the one that went on hiatus for three months, and then it ran uninterrupted through early June 2006. It is a different season. The drama is less heightened. The season bids goodbye to two characters: Will Cleveland and Irv Harper. All the characters grow or change or fall into bad habits (Bright and Jake, for example).

Ephram’s growth and maturity is welcome after his arc to close season three. Andy no longer has controversial affairs or banishes young women from Everwood. Father and son finally make peace. Andy briefly feuds with Jake over Nina, leading to a comical, then serious, therapy session for the two. A significant chunk of the season deals with Jake’s addiction issues. Amy and Hannah have their friendship tested by Amy’s liberal college interests. Bright and Hannah never gel as a couple, and they eventually break up after Bright cheats. They threw in a two-part “Will Hannah leave Everwood for Minnesota?” episode too. Harold and Rose navigate empty nest life, contemplate having another child, agree to adopt, which fails because Harold lied about Rose’s cancer, but they get a baby to raise in the series finale.

Dawson’s Creek

Again, I indulged in nostalgic comfort viewing. I only rewatched the first seven episodes of season one followed by “The Election” in season two on, what else, election night. As usual, I re-read my original post about the episodes and found them flawed, lacking discipline, and devoid of worthwhile critical thought or analysis, especially my review of “The Election,” which is particularly unfair to Andie and Meredith Monroe. I was a foolish and hasty writer in my mid-twenties.

I still describe season one as magical, primarily because of the cinematography, editing, and score. A dash of nostalgia probably informs this opinion as well. Who doesn’t feel something nice when we see establishing shots of Capeside (i.e. Wilmington, NC) accompanied by the sound of flutes? The early episodes all break apart Dawson’s comfortable world, starting with his changed friendship with Joey, followed by Jen revealing to him her New York City past, and culminating in his parents’ separation because of his mother’s infidelity. Dawson also grapples with Pacey becoming more sexually experienced than him. All the tensions of the first six episodes lead to “Detention”, the famous Breakfast Club homage, in which Joey and Dawson kiss, Jen and Pacey kiss, and Dawson throws a basketball at Pacey’s face. 

Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Final Season

Curb Your Enthusiasm ended in early spring with a finale I really liked. It mirrored and commented on the controversial Seinfeld series finale in its own series finale. Richard Lewis, who I always loved in this show, was more involved for the first time in years. He died shortly before the series finale. The later seasons of Curb are hit-or-miss. I didn’t understand “The Gettysburg Address” but I quite liked “The Dream Scheme,” which aired the week after “The Gettysburg Address.” 

Much of the commentary online about the season revolved around the show’s past-date commentary of Trump’s first presidency. The season finished filming in 2021 and finally aired in 2024. “Disgruntled” was inspired by an anonymous op-ed published in 2018. In this era of horrible attention spans, one would need a footnote to remind them of that as “Disgruntled” aired, but I found it, and much of the season, to be amusing. 

True Detective: Night Country

I missed the third season of True Detective, which was Nic Pizzolatto’s last season on the show. During season four, Pizzolatto ranted about the show like a fan rebelling against the reinvention of his or her favorite movie or TV show. Issa Lopez intended to create a dark mirror of season one, stating that True Detective is male and sweaty while Night Country is dark, cold, and female. Indeed, the story starts with a murdered Indigenous woman, and it is rooted in violence against women, culminating in the reveal that a group of Indigenous women workers avenged the killing of Annie.

As Christmas Day approaches here in 2024, I’ll note that Night Country is set during the Christmas season and that every character, or nearly every one, has the absolute worst Christmas season.

American Fiction

I watched this on a plane to London or from London. It's funny, sharp, and deft. Jeffrey Wright's fantastic in it as is John Ortiz. I probably need to read Percival Everett's fiction.

The White Lotus, Season 1

I feel certain that I watched the first season of The White Lotus in early 2024, perhaps because I saw it at my local library. 

Friday Night Lights, Season 1

I revisited Friday Night Lights season one because my Mom enjoys the show. I enjoy the show too. I rewatched the full series a few years ago. The series usually mixed genuine drama with irritating melodrama, but I still enjoy season one despite the more annoying storylines like the Riggins/Lyla/Street triangle.

Shogun

Like most of the other shows I watched during 2024, I watched Shogun in an unconventional manner. I started watching the series when it premiered, but then an unexpected family tragedy happened, and I resumed the show in early summer, having forgotten a lot of the first three or four episodes. I loved Anna Sawai’s performance. Cosmo Jarvis’s performance grew on me. At first, his performance seemed like a parody, but something clicked for me halfway through the series. Hiroyuki Sanada was terrific. You know, LOST hired Sanada and John Hawkes for season six and then gave them very little. Well, Sanada did get one terrific monologue when Dogen tells Jack about his son. Dogen was the more significant role compared with Lennon. Hawkes also acted in Night Country. I digress.

Abbott Elementary

Unconventional viewing continued with Abbott Elementary. I watched the final few episodes of season three in a distracted haze, and what has aired so far in season four I viewed in a distracted haze. The mockumentary style of sitcom needs a break, I think. St. Denis Medical, another single-camera mockumentary sitcom, follows the same visual beats that The Office made standard for these types of show. I still laugh during Abbott episodes, but I’m not closely paying attention to the episodes, if that makes sense. So many of the actors are so good as is the writing, so I continue watching. 

YouTube

I usually watch transit YouTube videos like Miles In Transit and Noel Philips and Retired Rail Fan Horn Guy. I also watched Foresty Forest regularly. I live vicariously through some of the videos from Miles and Noel. Both of them have criss-crossed the country on Greyhound, which I thought about doing ten years ago. Miles has taken all the long-haul Amtrak trains. He’s taken 30+ hour Megabus trips. For some, it would be hell on earth, but those trips are what I used to plan to do while working a temp job in the early 2010s. Why did I want to do that? Jack Kerouac criss-crossing the country by bus and rail likely inspired it. Miles’s transit videos are particularly fun to watch, especially when it’s the Great Race to somewhere, or he and his friends are taking SEPTA anywhere. 

And I watched concerts, specifically concerts I couldn’t attend. Thankfully, someone uploaded the Coheed/Incubus show I couldn’t attend this past August. I also bought tickets for The Blood Brothers reunion, but I couldn’t attend it. Again, some stranger uploaded quality recordings of the entire show in Los Angeles. 

Challengers

Challengers was one of the rare movies I anticipated for awhile, ever since I saw Scriptshadow praise the screenplay a few years ago. The studio delayed the original release, and I patiently waited to rent the movie for $5.99. It briefly became a ‘thing’ in pop culture during its theatrical release. I liked the movie. 

Oppenheimer

As per usual, I have never seen a Christopher Nolan movie in IMAX, but Oppenheimer was still awe-striking on a regular TV. Cillian Murphy was terrific. The Trinity scene was amazing. I quite enjoyed the small roles played by people I recognized from TV shows such as Harry Groener and Tim DeKay. Nolan’s movies now resemble a Saturday Night Live episode at times as the audience patiently awaits the next famous actor or actress to show up in a brief role. Oppenheimer was an informal The Wackness reunion with Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby. I don't remember whether or not they shared a scene though.

Saturday Night Live

I recorded and watched new episodes of Saturday Night Live over the past month because I’ve enjoyed a few of the sketches I’ve seen. The Paul Mescal hosted episode was the best of the three full episodes I watched. 

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The theme of this post is the unconventional ways I watched or rewatched TV shows and movies. I rewatched most of the three Lord of the Rings several times in the summer and fall, in random order, with the ending to Return of the King being what I rewatched the most. I also re-listened to the extended edition commentaries (the cast and the directors) for all three movies. Additionally, I rewatched the behind the scenes features on the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring.

One of my new readings of the movies is that Samwise is a caregiver for Frodo and that his breakdown on Mount Doom emphasizes the sacrifice a caregiver makes, which is why he sobs when he says Rosie’s name, believing he would die, never to see her again. He gave up a life with her to care for Frodo. These movies have many powerful meanings.

The Holdovers

There are times when one opens a book or starts a TV show or watches a movie, and you know that you’re in the hands of a master. Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is one of those times. Cat Stevens’s “The Wind” is the perfect song for the opening title sequence because the opening title sequence is perfect. The movie constantly delivers from then on.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Between Martin Scorcese’s two most recent three hour movies, I preferred The Irishman. I think Scorcese and DiCaprio made the wrong choice to build the movie around the love story of Ernest and Mollie. The movie has many strengths, though, including DeNiro’s performance. He’s absolutely unlikable as William King Hale. The powerful ending is what I remember most from the movie. 

Anchorman 2

One quibble with Anchorman 2, during my latest rewatch, using Pluto TV, is that I doubt the Channel 4 News team would care about the integrity of journalism and their role in destroying it by creating the 24/7 cable news cycle. I particularly don't believe Brian Fantana would break up his friendship with Ron because Ron and the network killed a serious journalistic piece he did. I don't believe Fantana would do any serious work. It's needed for the story McKay and Ferrell wanted to tell, but the Channel 4 news characters are such caricatures that investing them with journalism's salvation is nonsense. 

Swingers

I randomly rewatched this movie on Pluto TV or Tubi or Roku or something. I happened upon it one early evening and stuck with it. It reminds me most of an old friend. We'd quote lines to each other a lot during high school. When Mikey says, "I guess we're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy," it cracked me up. That line epitomized the struggles my friend and I had talking to girls when we were teenagers. We related to Mikey so much.

Trains

Yes, I watched trains in 2024. While I waited for my Mom’s dialysis treatments to end this fall, I hung out at various Center City train stations to photograph arriving and departing Regional Rail trains using various picture effects in my RX100m3. I even did a field recording of Suburban and Market East/Jefferson stations. One day, I watched many, many students from Radnor Middle School board an outbound Paoli/Thorndale train, which forced the conductors to open all five cars before the afternoon rush. Those off-peak Regional Rail trains never open all five cars to travelers.