Continuing on with Horror Bingo . . . let’s discuss The Call.

(Note: I went into this movie knowing very little about it. If you want to do likewise  . . . maybe don’t watch the trailer above. It’s a fun trailer, but it also tells you, like, a LOT. )

Not to be confused with The Call (the 2013 thriller with Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin—I reviewed it here) or The Call (a totally different 2020 horror film with Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell), or even The Caller (the 2011 horror film that this movie is loosely based on), THIS The Call is a South Korean speculative horror film starring Park Shin Hye and Jeon Jong Seo about two women who—while living in the same house 20 years apart—somehow begin communicating with one another through the landline. And honestly, it’s pretty fantastic. I had a great time watching it . . .

. . . except for two things that I really didn’t like.

Year: 2020
Director: Lee Chung Hyun
First Watch or Rewatch: First Watch
Streaming Service: Netflix
Spoilers: All of them, sorry
Grade: Chocolate? Chocolate-vanilla swirl?

Let’s start with the positive because there’s an awful lot to like about this movie. This music? Oh my God. A fire extinguisher as a signature weapon? Hell yes. All of the gorgeous filming and bloody violence? Love it. Even just the concept alone—like, two people mysteriously communicating through time is a fun trope, but it’s also one I don’t usually see in horror films. SF dramas like Frequency, sure. SF romances, absolutely: The Lake House, Il Mare (the movie The Lake House was based on—holy shit, I didn’t know Lee Jung Jae was in that!), Ditto and its upcoming remake. But horror, not so much. And since I didn’t know a lot about this film going in, I’d kind of assumed the whole story would be about Seo Yeon (Park Shin Hye) trying to save Young Sook (Jeon Jong Seo) from a killer—not, you know, Seo Yeon accomplishing that in the first hour and then spending the rest of the movie trying to save herself from Young Sook.

And it’s awesome! One of the things I especially enjoy here is how Seo Yeon and Young Sook have different timeline advantages. Young Sook, obviously, has the upper hand because she can—and does—kill people in the past and rewrite them out of existence, which is terrifying. (And sad! The scene where Seo Yeon’s dad dies—er, again—hits very hard, or at least hit me very hard.) But only Seo Yeon can see how the future will play out, which is knowledge that she, theoretically, can use to her advantage—although she does fumble that pretty hard. (I don’t blame her for the failed murder attempt. That’s just bad luck. But Seo Yeon, Seo Yeon, never confront the murderer with your secret future knowledge. Everyone would both be alive right now if you hadn’t done that!)

The cast is absolutely fantastic, too. I was delighted to see Park Shin Hye (who I’d enjoyed very much in #Alive), as well as Park Ho San (The Guest), Oh Jung Se (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay), and Lee El (Goblin, A Korean Odyssey). The standout, however, is definitely Jeon Jong Seo, who’s disturbing and delightful as Young Sook, just full of this creepy, violent energy that lights up the whole film. (Not to mention, Young Sook’s whole aesthetic in this film? Yes, please.) I’m so happy Jeon Jong Seo won the Baeksang Award for this because she 100% deserved it. Also! I love that most of the major players in The Call are women and there’s nary a love interest in sight! That’s awesome!

As far as what doesn’t work for me, well. There are two Big Twists that I don’t like, both of which could easily be stripped from the film by cutting maybe two minutes of screen time tops. The first twist bothers me less, and has to do with backstory. We learn early on that Seo Yeon blames her mother for accidentally leaving the gas on when she was a kid, resulting in a fire that kills her father. It’s revealed, however, that little Seo Yeon, herself, was responsible, and has either been lying about it this whole time (which if so, wow, is she The Worst) or lied when she was little and has since repressed the truth/come to believe the lie. Which is better, I guess, but just . . . why? Seriously, why? This twist is given absolutely no room to breathe. I don’t feel like I get a better understanding of her character or arc, and we already have plenty of parallels between Young Sook and Seo Yeon, so we don’t need more evidence for that whole ‘we’re not so very different, you and I’ shit. You can take this Big Twist out of the movie and literally almost nothing changes, which—IMO—is not how Big Twists should work.

The other twist—the one that annoys me way more, TBH—is at the very end of the film, literally the mid-credits scene, when it’s revealed that Young Sook didn’t die, after all, and has rewritten the future once again, so now Seo Yeon’s mother is dead and Seo Yeon, herself, is being tortured. And just . . . God, I hate it. I really do. Not even because it’s a bummer ending—bummer endings are fine!—but this one feels cheap and unsatisfying, like the last five seconds in some US horror film that’s more concerned with setting up a sequel than anything that came before. It feels extremely artificial to me, a twist for twist’s sake, and definitely doesn’t land like a good gut punch or make me see the story in a new light. Mostly, it just annoys me, like, don’t undercut the whole conclusion you just wrapped on during the credits! That’s irritating! A mid-credits scene can totally be a fun little bonus, but The Big Twist Stinger is rapidly moving up on my Absolute Least Favorite Tropes list.

I’d still highly recommend The Call—it’s such an original, exciting horror film with lovely cinematography and fantastic performances—but there’s just something so terribly frustrating about a story that you absolutely love until you hit the end.

Next Up: Bit

It’s that time again! Here are the TV shows I’ve been watching for the past three months:

Mrs. Davis
Nancy Drew (Season 4)
Tale of the Nine Tailed: 1938 (Episodes 1-6)
Revenant
Good Omens (Season 2)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 2)
Harley Quinn (Season 4, Episodes 1-8)
The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge
The Zone: Survival Mission (Season 2)

Today we’ll be discussing each show one by one. Any major spoilers for the current season will be headlined in bold red: for example, MOST HOLY SHIT MOMENT or FAVORITE REVEEEEENGE. Any spoilers for previous seasons, however, are fair game.

Now that you’ve been appropriately warned, let’s get started!

MRS. DAVIS

Man, this show was wild. I really enjoyed the hell out of it. We’ve got Reno nuns, cowboy secret agents, an AI that wants our heroine to destroy the Holy Grail—and I haven’t even gotten to the really weird shit yet. Mrs. Davis is hilarious and delightfully bizarre and only deepens my obsession with Betty Gilpin, who is just so good here. (Her every line delivery. Her every comic freakout or perfect reaction face. It’s all gold.) Jake McDormand is a lot of fun, too; in fact, the whole cast is really quite excellent. (Including the many excellent guest stars.) Between this and Poker Face, Peacock is really beginning to heat the fuck up in original and exciting programming.

BEST BATTLE SCENE

In the very first scene of Mrs. Davis, we get an extremely and hilariously over the top battle to protect the Holy Grail—I’m talking sudden decapitations, an already impaled woman leaping to skewer an evil soldier, etc.—and the more we learn about this battle, the weirder it gets. There’s no way to explain how without spoilers, but—as you’ll soon see—basically everything I want to discuss here has spoilers. This is really the only silly superlative I could think of for people who haven’t seen the show yet.

FAVORITE EPISODE

“Zwei Sie Piel mit Seitung Sie Wirtschaftung”

I honestly don’t know if this is my favorite episode or not, but at some point, I just had to pick one, so. This is only the second episode of Mrs. Davis, and I’m still trying to figure out how much I can say about it. We get some backstory on Simone (Gilpin) and her terrible, terrible parents. We get a deeper insight into my favorite supporting character, Jay, and his falafel restaurant. We are introduced to the A.I. Resistance, and we get pianos, like, just a lot of pianos. I was definitely into the pilot, but this is the episode that made me say, “Oh, no, I have to finish this one.”

Honorable Mentions: Allison Treasures: A Southern California Story; A Great Place to Drink to Gain Control of Your Drink; Mother of Mercy: The Call of the Horse; The Final Intercut: So I’m Your Horse

FAVORITE NEW SHOW

I am begging you: if you like weird shit TV, and you haven’t watched Mrs. Davis yet, don’t read any of the spoilers below before checking this one out. It’s only eight episodes, and already a complete story. I don’t know if there’s going to be a second season, but honestly, I hope there isn’t. Mrs. Davis is really good as is—smart, irreverent, deeply peculiar, with characters you care about and twists you do not see coming. I had such a good time with this one.

Honorable Mention: Revenant

SUPPORTING CHARACTER WHO MOST DESERVES A SHOUTOUT (TIE)

So, it turns out that Jay is not just a cute, funny, mild-mannered dude with a mysterious diner and an even more mysterious boss—he’s actually Jesus Christ. Uh, yes, that one. The falafel restaurant isn’t a physical place on Earth, but a place Simone (and others) have initially found in a desperate moment of anxiety/fear/prayer. (Or during sex. That happens too, sometimes.) And Simone, as a nun/Bride of Christ, is married to Jesus, and not just symbolically. They’re literally in a romantic relationship, which I really enjoyed; they definitely tie for FAVORITE CANON SHIP.  Also, this wins for FAVORITE TWIST because whew, I did not see this one coming. (Or pretty much any of the WTF curveballs this show threw at me—and it threw a lot of them.)

But it’s not just the shock of the twist. Jay (Andy McQueen, who’s absolutely wonderful in the role) is just a really excellent character. He’s calm, kind, gently funny, but he also gets some really lovely moments to express frustration, anger, and even heartbreaking fear. Jay was easily one of my favorite parts of the whole show.

Honorable Mentions for Supporting Character: Arthur (Mrs. Davis); JQR (Mrs. Davis); Celeste (Mrs. Davis); Mrs. Davis (Mrs. Davis); Uhura (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

Honorable Mentions for Favorite Canon Ship: Simone/Wiley (Mrs. Davis)

Honorable Mentions for Favorite Twist: Mary is the Boss (Mrs. Davis); the prologue is actually a shoe commercial (Mrs. Davis)

WORST PARENT (TIE)

Let me explain—no, there is too much. Let me sum up: Simone’s Dad (David Arquette) is a stage magician who manipulated his daughter (who’s, IDK, 10?) into sneaking into her mom’s workshop to look at her secret magic trick designs. Only Simone’s Mom, Celeste (Elizabeth Marvel), has boobytrapped said workshop, and Child Simone (then Lizzie) gets shot in the stomach with an arrow. (Celeste secretly feels guilty about it, I guess? But she can’t acknowledge that guilt, not even to herself, and blames her kid for not seeing through her dad’s manipulations.) Years later, Simone’s Dad fakes his own grisly death on stage, traumatizing the shit out of Simone, but then fucks it up so badly he actually does die, his undiscovered body left to rot. Celeste fervently believes that he’s still alive somewhere and insists that Simone is in on it. This is, admittedly, partly Mrs. Davis’s fault, but still. It’s damn impressive Simone turned out as well as she did cause her parents sucked. (Elizabeth Marvel is particularly great in the role, though!)

Honorable Mentions: Wiley’s dad (Mrs. Davis); Hae Sang’s grandmother (Revenant);  Eun Ho’s dad (Tale of the Nine-Tailed: 1938)

MOST HOLY SHIT MOMENT

Prior to the series, Clara steals the Holy Grail in a quest to destroy it. (Mostly because of mommy issues.) She gets help from her long lost scientist father, Arthur (Ben Chaplin), and they totally bond—while pretending not to—as they keep failing to destroy the Grail. It’s actually very cute; unfortunately, Clara finally decides to break the Number 1 Rule—do not sip from the Grail—to see if that’s what destroys it. Her nose starts to bleed, she gets a moment of peace (AKA, she visits Jesus), she smiles at her dad—and then her head explodes. Full on explodes, gory as fuck. A true holy shit moment, which also wins for BEST DEATH and JIMMY, NOOOOOO! as well.

Honorable Mentions for Best Death: Jay (Mrs. Davis); Scummy Japanese soldier (Tale of the Nine Tailed: 1938)

Honorable Mentions for Jimmy, NOOOOO!: San Yeong’s grandmother (Revenant)

BEST WTF MOMENT

Mrs. Davis might be an AI who’s more or less taken control of the whole world, but her origin story is the most bonkers thing ever because she secretly began life as a young Black programmer’s extremely ambitious buffalo wings app. This is why Mrs. Davis gives her users these quests to find their angelic “wings,” or why she sent Simone to find the Holy Grail in the first place. (“100% customer satisfaction is our Holy Grail.”) It’s fucking wild, but it also totally works, and Simone’s reaction to this discovery is priceless. I laughed so hard.

Honorable Mentions: The Holy Grail was made from Jesus’s skullcap, Mary is the one who made it out of grief, it’s the only thing that can let Jesus rest in peace, and oh yeah, it makes people’s heads explode (Mrs. Davis); the real Pope has been imprisoned and a secret doppelganger pope is in the Vatican (Mrs. Davis); the piano field (Mrs. Davis)

NANCY DREW (SEASON 4)

(Very minor spoilers throughout the Nancy Drew section, mostly things referenced in the trailer above or just a few big SF&F tropes that appear this season.)

Well, the time has come: Nancy Drew has ended after a four season run. I generally enjoyed the season, although it is very, very obvious how much the writers were scrambling in the last few episodes after the show had been abruptly cancelled. And, well. I’m afraid that scramble doesn’t totally work: some stuff is very rushed, and at least one choice is made that I, from the bottom of my soul, do not buy. Still, this show gave me a lot of joy over the last few years, and I’m really glad I watched it—even if, alas, my Nancy Drew Season 4 bingo card only got three spots. (Ace’s Dad appears, Body Swaps, and The Clue of the Dancing Puppet Easter egg.) I definitely hope to see the cast in more things soon! (I wish I could work up the interest for The Good Lawyer, but even for Kennedy McMann, lawyer shows are an extremely hard sell.)

SUPPORTING CHARACTER WHO MOST DESERVES A SHOUTOUT (TIE)

I’m pretty sure Nick has won this award before, but you know what? Dude deserves it. 1st Season Nick is just sort of okay, but Seasons 2, 3, and 4 Nick are the absolute best, and Tunji Kasim has done phenomenal work here. I wish I could’ve seen him do impressions of every character because his turn as Bess Marvin is amazing. More than that, though, Nick is just the heart of the show: funny, compassionate, the only member of the group with a lick of common sense, etc.. He’s had so many lovely moments over the past few season, just . . . oh, Nick, I think I’ll miss you most of all.

Honorable Mentions for Supporting Character: Arthur (Mrs. Davis); JQR (Mrs. Davis); Celeste (Mrs. Davis); Mrs. Davis (Mrs. Davis); Uhura (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

FAVORITE PARENT/CHILD DYNAMIC (TIE!)

Nancy Drew ties with itself here: I continue to adore the dynamic between Nancy and her two dads. (As well as Carson and Ryan’s relationship with one another—they will forever be my favorite NON CANON SHIP.) Cute, funny moments like when Ryan jump scares Nancy or sweeter, more serious moments like when Carson and Nancy try to navigate Kate Drew’s death anniversary together. I’m just so here for this family.

But Ace and Thom are pretty great, too. (Anthony Natale, in particular, shines in every guest appearance.) One thing I really enjoy is how we never have to sit through an annoying storyline where Ace, like, wishes for a hearing father or something. These two do get frustrated with one another, but it’s always concerning shit like Thom being overbearing about Ace leading the Seder, or Ace worried about Thom’s safety, or Ace just not opening up enough. You know. Typical father-son shit, with a side of ghosts. These two care about each other a lot, and I really love every scene with them.

LEAST FAVORITE CANON SHIP (TIE)

There was a brief moment, way back when, that I actually found Nancy and Ace an interesting, unexpected ship. By Season 3, though, I’d become extremely bored of the forced complications and melodrama—and unfortunately, dealing with a “die if we get together” curse did not improve things much in Season 4. As expected, this curse mostly just made Nancy and Ace more frustrating as the season went on, and by the end of the show, I honestly did not care whether they got together or not.

FAVORITE EPISODE

We get a lot of awesome stuff this season—time shenanigans, haunted movie sets, reanimated corpses, giant fucking spiders—but nothing made me quite so happy as body swaps, one of my favorite SF&F tropes because watching actors portray each other’s characters is just always such a delight. “The Crooked Bannister” could’ve been my favorite episode for that reason only (seriously, have I mentioned how much I adore Tunji Kasim in this show), but this episode also gives some really nice moments to the Drew/Hudson family and refuses to do that thing where the guy sabotages his ex-girlfriend’s date. (Although to be clear, I definitely do not give a shit about this date.)

My only WTF with this episode? What do you mean it’s only been a year since Kate Drew died? Holy shit, the timeline in this show makes no sense.

Honorable Mentions: The Dilemma of the Lover’s Curse; The Maiden’s Rage; The Return of the Killer’s Hook; The Web of Yesterdays; The Reaping of Hollow Oak

WORST PLAN

While essentially playing Ghost Jumanji, Nancy, George, and Ace all decide to just cheat and move their respective pieces to the end of the board game. Not shockingly, the game eliminates them—which is to say, it temporarily kills them, leaving Nick the final player to save all their lives.

Nick, the heart of the show, but also the only brain cell of the group—or, at the very least, the only one with any goddamn common sense.

TALE OF THE NINE TAILED: 1938 (EPISODES 1-6)

I honestly didn’t plan to check this one out since I was pretty so-so on the first season, but honestly, I’m enjoying 1938 more than I expected. It’s definitely lighter in tone and clearly focusing on the stuff that fans loved, like Lee Yeon and Lee Rang’s prickly bromance, while poking fun at or straight up ignoring the shit that no one cared about, like Lee Yeon and Nam Ji Ah’s fated romance. I do feel bummed for Jo Bo Ah (whose character didn’t travel back in time) because I actually like her in the show; I just never found her and Lee Dong Wook compelling together. Still, I can’t deny that I’m finding this season more fun than its predecessor, even if I’m not super invested in it. We’ll see if I get my ass in gear and actually finish the show. (If it doesn’t happen before October and Horror Bingo, it probably won’t happen at all.)

BEST BROMANCE

I mean, Lee Dong Wook and Kim Bum have just fantastic chemistry in this series, and I really can’t help but love their adorable semi-antagonistic shenanigans. This—along with the obviously fantastic costumes—was definitely the big selling point for me on the second season. I do think if you’re gonna enjoy 1938, though, it’s best to just sorta . . . let go and enjoy the ride, even if certain things—like how easily Lee Yeon wins Lee Rang over at this point in the timeline—don’t really make that much sense.

BEST TROPE

Listen, I’m a simple woman, and if a bunch of clueless, pretty dudes who usually handle things through trickery and violence happen to accidentally acquire a baby that they must then take care of? Yeah. I’m here for it.

BEST WEAPON

Again, I’m a simple woman. Lee Rang’s giant axe? HELL YES.

Honorable Mention: Hong Joo’s giant sword

MOST FABULOUS FASHION (TIE)

An immediate upside to setting a show in the 30’s: fashion. My favorite look so far has to be Hong Joo’s gorgeous white dress and fabulous hat from the first and second episodes. It even rips away and shortens for practicality! This is fabulous.

Honorable Mentions: Celeste’s corporate outfit (Mrs. Davis); Hargaret’s bell hop disguise (Harley Quinn); Harley’s blue and pink Bat costume (Harley Quinn); the red heels (Revenant); Muriel’s bright white “Inspector Constable” costume (Good Omens); T’Pring’s gold dinner outfit (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Neera’s structured blue dresses (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

FAVORITE EPISODE

Hm. For now, I’ll give this one to “Chapter 6: The Corner Game” because I’m just a sucker for any creepy game that, whoops, got a bit too real and now we’ve invited a super malevolent ghost inside. (Admittedly, this is mostly Moo Young’s fault.) Some of the horror imagery in this one is especially awesome, and I’m really happy to see some advancement in the main storyline, too, with our hero and our primary antagonist (well, one of them) finally meeting face to face.

Honorable Mentions: Chapter 3: Saetani; Chapter 4: The Foundling

REVENANT

I’m helpless to resist any creepy ghost mysteries, so obviously I had to check out Revenant, particularly since it stars both Kim Tae Ri and Oh Jung Se. I had a fun time with this show—we binged all twelve episodes pretty fast—but it’s also probably never going to crack my Top 10 K-dramas, either. I wish I cared a bit more about the characters and their relationships to one another. Yeom Hae Sang and Lee Hong Sae, in particular, are both stoic types with little to no social skills and not much in the way of personality, and I found myself wishing for a little more with both of them. (It’s such an oddly reserved role for Oh Jung Se, especially, who’s such an expressive actor in everything else I’ve ever seen. He still has some lovely moments here, but . . . I don’t know. I found myself wanting a bit more.)

Still, I really enjoyed putting together the mystery, and Kim Tae Ri is absolutely phenomenal as the possessed Gu San Yeong, effortlessly alternating between vulnerable, frustrated, hopeful, and extremely damn creepy. (Like there’s this one particular grin? Goddamn.) I hope Kim Tae Ri gets all the accolades because she’s just fantastic in this.

FAVORITE VILLAIN

I don’t wanna go into too many details, but I do love our primary villain, Hair Ghost, who possesses Gu San Yeong in the very first episode. She’s visible (to psychics, at least) in San Yeong’s shadow, where her hair is wild and chaotic and grows every time she murders someone. (For presumably obvious reasons, Hair Ghost also wins BEST HAIR.) And while she’s often cruel, as ghosts can be, our villain is occasionally fun to root for, since many of the people she murders very much deserve it. If nothing else, Hair Ghost teaches us this: no matter what, never ever answer the door.

Honorable Mentions for Best Hair: Lee Rang (Tale of the Nine Tailed: 1938); Pelia (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Pike (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

FAVORITE VISION, NIGHTMARE, OR MEANINGFUL HALLUCINATION

At one point, Yeom Hae Sang (Oh Jung Se) is having a very bad day, and gets trapped in a nightmare of sorts, running through red-lit hallways that have a blanket-covered corpse in every doorway, which is obviously just creepy as shit. (They’re very specific blankets, too, but details would include spoilers, so.) God, I just love disturbing ass ghost shit.

FAVORITE EPISODE

“Episode 10” gives us some interesting revelations about the past, our ghost, and how much one antagonist well and truly sucks—but my very favorite thing about it is how our heroes finally start fully working together by the end. Not that I don’t enjoy a little mistrust among allies—I write angsty fanfic, FFS—but I also really enjoy the episodes where our heroes team up and finally starting telling each other the goddamn truth.

Honorable Mentions: Episodes 1; Episode 7; Episode 8

WORST PARENT (TIE)

Okay, wow, San Yeong has the worst parents. Well, Hae Sang’s grandmother may be the actual worst (to her own kids, her grandkids, and her faithful employee’s kids), but still. I really need to talk about San Yeong here because, whew. Her mom, admittedly, was terrorized by her possessed husband, and I do have some sympathy for her trauma, but! But! Gyeong Mun lies to San Yeong about her dad being dead for years, then refuses to tell her why. She loses all their money in a scam, except it’s not their money; it’s San Yeong’s money, as Gyeong Mun apparently sucks at work so much that it’s entirely up to her daughter to financially support them. She also accepts an inheritance that San Yeong didn’t want and then steals that money and leases a whole ass building with it. (Yes, yes, it’s for them and their future. I don’t care. This woman is maddening.)

But then we got San Yeong’s dad who purposefully invokes the dark spirit that kills his mother-in-law and unborn child—like, sure, he didn’t intend for their deaths. He just wanted to cure his own impending blindness and kill his way to academic success or some shit. Still, that’s definitely what happened. And years later, when Gu Kang Mo belatedly grows a conscience and tries to get rid of the ghost, he fucks up the ritual, which gets both him and his mother killed—and, of course, gets San Yeong possessed.

Honorable Mentions: Wiley’s dad (Mrs. Davis); Hae Sang’s grandmother (Revenant);  Eun Ho’s dad (1938)

FAVORITE REVEEEEENGE

Kim Woo Jin sees something he isn’t supposed to, so evil Na Byung Hee makes sure he doesn’t survive his car accident. Unfortunately, Woo Jin’s father, Kim Chi Won, is Byung Hee’s loyal right hand man, and when he finally finds out what happened years later, he gets revenge by hospitalizing Byung Hee, taking over her company, and helping our evil ghost throw Byung Hee’s ass out a window. Our hero gets very judgy about this last part, all ‘how will you sleep at night,’ but honestly? I suspect Chi Won is going to sleep just fine. Good for you, sir.

BEST BADASS MOMENT

I have some mixed feelings on the finale, mostly because I’m not sure every revelation here works for me, but when Shadow San Yeong forces Hyang-yi to burn her own finger bone, leading to Hyang-yi’s destruction? I mean, damn. That was a good moment.

GOOD OMENS (SEASON 2)

Minor spoilers throughout, although if you’ve been even vaguely online, I doubt I’m going to surprise you with much here. Still, if you don’t want to know anything about Season 2 prior to watching, best wait on this whole section for now.

I made the mistake of binging Revenant the same weekend that Good Omens, Season 2 came out, which meant I had to spend the next few days frantically dodging spoilers as a certain corner of the internet (Tumblr) erupted into chaos, swooning, and despair. I did a so-so job of it, which meant I knew we were ending on a cliffhanger, even if I didn’t know the specifics. But of course, I did catch up, and my overall feelings are . . . mixed. Again. As that’s very much how I felt about Season 1, well. At least I’m consistent.

As always, I continue to adore Michael Sheen and David Tennant. There are so many wonderful little moments between the two of them, and I’m thrilled that Ineffable Husbands is very, very much on-screen canon now. I will be coming back for Season 3, assuming a Season 3 gets made. (It better fucking get made.) But I will also say that I actively disliked much of Episodes 3 and 4, and considering that’s 1/3 of the series, yeah, that’s not ideal. I don’t mind the idea of more extended flashbacks, and I sorta get what they were trying to do with them? But mostly I found the flashbacks tedious, repetitive, and awkward—Jesus Christ, so awkward—and I would’ve much rather spent that time on Aziraphale and Crowley in the present day, being adorable and repressed and working together to uncover the mystery that is Amnesiac Gabriel.

FAVORITE SHIP (TIE)

I mean. Obviously, it’s Aziraphale and Crowley. Christ, I like these two so much. Just the way Michael Sheen looks at David Tennant, I mean, Jesus. You usually have to watch something animated to get those kind of heart eyes. They have such Been Married for Eons energy, while also somehow having Pining Best Friends Energy and also Enemies to Lovers Energy, like, how does that even work? I really love all the little domestic moments between them: the apology dance, the other dance, the car banter, etc. I even actually like a few of the flashbacks, specifically, the ones in the second episode. I do think Season 2 is deeply uneven, but I could watch these two all day.

Honorable Mentions for Favorite Canon Ship: Simone/Wiley (Mrs. Davis)

FAVORITE SCENE STEALER – MAIN CAST

Okay, Muriel (Quelin Sepulveda) is adorable. (MOST ADORABLE, as a matter of fact, not to mention a tie for FAVORITE NEW PLAYER.) Muriel is a sweet, bubbly, deeply naive angel on their first assignment to Earth, and watching Aziraphale very kindly pretend to believe that they’re a “human police officer” while simultaneously giving advice on how humans behave is just the most precious thing in the goddamn world. In fact, one of the reasons I’m bummed that Good Omens spends so much time in the past is that it prevents us from spending more time on low stakes cozy shit like this. In Season 3, please leave 1941 behind and give us more of Aziraphale, Crowley, and their newly adopted angel.

Honorable Mentions for Most Adorable: Fortune God Baby (Tale of the Nine Tailed: 1938); Aziraphale (Good Omens); Angie (The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge)

MOST FABULOUS FASHION (TIE)

I mean. How do you even describe Gabriel’s blue, bedazzled suit? It’s blue. It is holy shit bedazzled. There’s a matching bow tie. It has white ruffles. I demand to see this look cosplayed immediately.

Honorable Mentions: Celeste’s corporate outfit (Mrs. Davis); Hargaret’s bell hop disguise (Harley Quinn); Harley’s blue and pink Bat costume (Harley Quinn); red heels (Revenant); Muriel’s bright white “Inspector Constable” costume (Good Omens); T’Pring’s gold dinner outfit (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Neera’s structured blue dresses (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

FAVORITE EPISODE

Look, your girl is a sucker for a ball, that’s all there is to it. And a ball in a bookshop? Excellent. It was a relief to return to the present in “Chapter 5: The Ball.” We get Aziraphale resorting to desperate measures. We get Crowley confronting Gabriel. We get Gabriel’s fabulous suit. We get smitten. And the dance? The dance? FAVORITE DANCE SCENE, hands down. Yeah, this was a good episode for me.

Honorable Mentions: Chapter 2: The Clue, featuring the minisode A Companion to Owls; Every Day

MOST UNEXPECTEDLY SWEET

Also a tie for BEST SURPRISE because never in a million years would I have expected the pairing of Gabriel/ Beelzebub, but considering how little time they had to build this? Honestly, I really liked these two. (It’s my secret Honorable Mention for Favorite Ship, actually, but I didn’t want to spoil it in the Mrs. Davis section.) They even have their own song! (Which goddamn it, is now stuck in my head again.) It’s good, at least, to see that someone got their happy ending. (She says, weeping. Have I mentioned that I need a Season 3 announcement? Please?)

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS (SEASON 2)

I enjoyed Season 1 of Strange New Worlds, but I dragged my feet on starting up Season 2. Not sure why, really; sometimes—okay, often—that just happens to me. But I’m glad I finally did catch up because I had a good time here. I definitely like some episodes and subplots more than others, but Strange New Worlds is an energetic show with a charismatic cast that’s willing to be goofy and to take risks. I don’t mind a bit of a break for now, but I am looking forward to Season 3.

FAVORITE TITLE CARD/OPENING CREDITS

I mean, come on. They animated the opening credits for the fantastic Lower Decks crossover. Of course, I’m gonna give it a shoutout. This shit rules.

BEST NEW PLAYER (TIE)

Look, adding Carol Kane to the cast is always the right call. Pelia is eccentric and hilarious and just a lot of fun, and she also gets style points for having fantastic hair. Pelia totally works as a wacky side character, but there are some nice, thoughtful moments between her and the other characters, too, who are still grieving their last Chief Engineer. There’s also just a ton of potential for exploring Pelia’s backstory, species, and culture, and I’m hoping we get the chance to do so in Season 3.

BEST MUSICAL NUMBER

I’ve seen people who love “Subspace Rhapsody,” and people who hate it, but—true to form—I’m smack in the middle. I don’t have much patience for fans who think a musical episode is too goofy for Trek—Trek, a franchise that’s previously featured giant green space hands and warp speed sex lizards. Like, this is fun! It’s a fun experiment, and—as with many experiments—it has mixed results: I had a good time and I laughed a lot, but I also found many of the songs very stilted. Still, when Celia Rose Gooding sings “Keep Us Connected,” I mean, damn. It’s not just that they have the best voice in the cast—although, obviously, they do—but how Gooding performs it: how they move, their facial expressions, how they sing with their whole body. It’s very apparent just from watching that Gooding is a professional singer—oh, shit, Broadway professional, okay—and while I’m not usually much for ballads, Gooding really hits it out of the park with this one.

Honorable Mentions: “Connect to Your Truth” – Rebecca Romijn and Paul Wesley (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); “I’m Ready” – Jess Bush (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); The Klingon’s Song – Bruce Horak (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

BEST PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP – TIE!

Strange New Worlds is tying itself here because I really love the easy camradarie between Pike and Una, not to mention their loyalty, how far they’re willing to go to help one another . . . but I also really love the history explored between M’Benga and Christine Chapel, how they check in on each other throughout the season, how they support each other at all times. I’m not so thrilled with the romantic relationships in Season 2—more on that in the Spoiler Section—but the platonic shit? Yeah, Strange New Worlds is doing pretty good on that front.

FAVORITE EPISODE

Trial episodes, by and large, aren’t my thing—”Measure of a Man” aside—so I was definitely surprised by how much I loved “Ad Astra per Aspera.” It gives wonderful insight into Una’s backstory and character. It delves into Starfleet’s bigotry and binary thinking in regards to genetic engineering. Rebecca Romijn does excellent work in this episode, as does Anson Mount and Christina Chong. However, the true star of the show—the actress who wins  BEST SCENE STEALER – GUEST SPOT—is Yetide Badaki as Neera, who is phenomenal. She is so passionate and furious and sharp and hurt. She really moved my cold, dead little heart. I would love to see Neera come back for future episodes. I would also love to see Badaki lead an SF/F show anytime in the near future.

Honorable Mentions for Best Episode: Those Old Scientists; Under the Cloak of War

Honorable Mentions for Best Scene Stealer – Guest Spot: Jack Quaid (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Tawny Newsome (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Margo Martindale (Mrs. Davis); Shohreh Aghdashloo (Mrs. Davis); Ashley Romans (Mrs. Davis); Kim Hawthorne (Mrs. Davis); Tiana Okoye (Mrs. Davis)

SUPPORTING CHARACTER WHO MOST DESERVES A SHOUTOUT (TIE)

Dr. M’Benga is a wild card, and I love that about him. He’s generally quiet, reserved, compassionate, gently funny—but he’s also a badass, also traumatized, and he goes to some very dark places this season. (Which, personally, I love. Star Trek is purposefully idealistic, and it’s important to me it remains that way—but doesn’t mean we shouldn’t explore and interrogate that idealism, and it definitely doesn’t mean each character should make the obvious moral choice at all times.) Babs Olusanmokun does stellar work here, particularly in “Under the Cloak of War.” I’m really looking forward to seeing how M’Benga’s storyline continues in Season 3.

Honorable Mentions for Supporting Character: Arthur (Mrs. Davis); JQR (Mrs. Davis); Celeste (Mrs. Davis); Mrs. Davis (Mrs. Davis); Uhura (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

LEAST FAVORITE SHIP/MOST ANNOYING ROMANCE

In theory, I like the idea of Spock/Chapel, if only because it makes Future Chapel’s feelings for him a little less depressing, like, at least she’s hung up on a lost love, not some dude who never had any feelings for her at all. Still, the execution of this ship is not my favorite. For starters, I don’t think Ethan Peck and Jess Bush have that much romantic chemistry. Worse, I kinda hate how they get together, like, four seconds after Spock and T’Pring break up. I absolutely despise how even the alien of the week is spouting aphobic bullshit like ‘you can’t just be friends because you care about each other too much!’ And I’m really annoyed that we create all this drama for a relationship that lasts, what? Only three episodes? Man, we could’ve spent that screen time on Ortega backstory or Pelia backstory or Pike’s Cooking Hour!

HARLEY QUINN (SEASON 4, Episodes 1-8)

It’s funny . . . I love this show, but I don’t know if I have very much to say about Season 4. Of course, I still have two episodes to go. Maybe you’ll find me back here in December, squeeing and ranting about the season finale. (Or series finale. I don’t know if Harley Quinn has been renewed for a fifth season, and even if it has, that means very little these days, especially in animation, right?) Anyway, I like this show. It’s hilarious, and it has the best canon femslash on TV. Let’s do this.

BEST UNEXPECTED DUO

Look, I won’t go into details. I’m just saying, I could stand to watch more of Alfred Pennyworth and Harley Quinn running around the city together.

FAVORITE SHIP (TIE)

It’s tough when one person in the relationship joins the Bat Family while the other is leading the Legion of Doom, but Harley and Ivy are figuring it out. Well, they’re trying to, anyway. It’s been a bit up and down for them this season, TBH, but I do like how Harley and Ivy always try to be supportive of the other person’s shit, even as they’re both struggling with their new roles and responsibilities. And I especially enjoy how their trip to SPOILER REDACTED helps get them back on the same page in regards to their relationship. Cause, yeah. I will forever and ever ship these two.

Honorable Mentions for Favorite Canon Ship: Simone/Wiley (Mrs. Davis)

FAVORITE EPISODE

Hands down, it’s got to be “The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time.” Without getting into too many details, this episode has a lot going for it. Stakes are raised. Relationships are repaired. There are some time shenanigans, and—most importantly—we mock the shit out of one of the most meh SF movies of all time. This is what I’m here for.

Honorable Mentions: Gotham’s Hottest Hotties; Icons Only

THE BIG NAILED IT! BAKING CHALLENGE

I’m mostly focusing on scripted shows today, rather than reality and variety, but I had to quickly include this one because Nailed It! is one of my favorite feel-good shows, and I really enjoyed this new spin-off series. I was a bit worried I wouldn’t. Like, I come to Nailed It! for silliness and terrible cake; if I wanted a serious baking competition, I’d pick one of my other 8,000 options. But despite the longer format and higher stakes, this still felt joyful and kind and delightful. And the addition of the baking lessons are actually pretty neat! Shit, maybe I’ll try to fucking bake something someday.

BEST SURPRISE (TIE)

An upside to more prize money is obvious: it’s more money, and this is a lot more: $100,00, to be specific. A person can do a lot with $100,00—but obviously, not everybody is going to win, and higher stakes can easily lead to both disappointment and heartbreak. Heartbreak is not really why anyone watches Nailed It!, though, so a cute solution they came up with: before contestants go home, they each go on a one-minute pantry raid, keeping everything they can throw in their shopping carts—ingredients, stand mixers, air brush machines, etc. And no, it’s not 100 grand, but y’all, kitchenware is expensive. Most of the contestants looked they were having a ball. It certainly seemed fun to me, since I’m old and grew up exclusively on bullshit like Supermarket Sweet and Shop ‘Til You Drop. And, I don’t know. It was just . . . a really nice surprise. It was sweet. No tearful goddamn montages for this show.

MOST FABULOUS FASHION (TIE)

Nicole Byer has an amazing wardrobe on this show, but my absolute favorite look is probably in “Fondant Fails,” where Nicole is wearing this: a bright printed dress with some utterly fabulous flamingo slippers. I love the matching green headscarf. I love the gorgeous pink eyeshadow. I could not pull off this look, but man. It’s a good look.

Honorable Mentions: Celeste’s corporate outfit (Mrs. Davis); Hargaret’s bell hop disguise (Harley Quinn); Harley’s blue and pink Bat costume (Harley Quinn); red heels (Revenant); Muriel’s bright white “Inspector Constable” costume (Good Omens); T’Pring’s gold dinner outfit (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds); Neera’s structured blue dresses (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

MOST WELCOME RETURN

Because, well. Pretty much all the reasons I already said. The world can be goddamn relentless, and we could all use a bit of silly joy now and again.

Honorable Mentions: Nancy Drew; Good Omens; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; The Zone: Survival Mission

FAVORITE EPISODE

All of the episodes here are a lot of fun; that being said, there’s something especially hilarious about “Professor Chocolate” where even the show’s baking coaches are having a hard time keeping up with Mr. Chocolate himself, Jacques Torres. I laughed a lot during this one.

Honorable Mentions: Baking 101; Ya Not Done!

THE ZONE: SURVIVAL MISSION (SEASON 2)

Finally, my other very silly, non-scripted show. The Zone: Survival Mission is just an easy fun watch. We’ve got fake zombies. We’ve got murder mysteries. We’ve got disappearing islands. We’ve got, as always, Kwang Soo threatening to quit every other second. (Jae Suk is usually not far behind, and Yu Ri, well. She’s often the only reason this team even has a chance of winning.) I don’t have much to say about this one, either; mostly, I just had to shoutout the end credits . . .

FAVORITE END CREDITS

. . . because I like a silly dance party, and that’s exactly what this is: our three stars dancing around, all goofy. I couldn’t find the end credits for Season 2 online, unfortunately, but here are the ones for Season 1. (It’s pretty much the same idea, but with different clothes, music, and CGI background. Anyway, it makes me smile.)

FAVORITE EPISODE

Ooh, this is actually pretty difficult, but I think I’m gonna give it to “1st Zone: The Stress Zone.” Our heroes have to keep their heart rates down and their water intake up while exploring an abandoned hospital where all kinds of shit pops up to stress them out: jump scare ghosts, shrinking rooms, giant fucking teddy bears covered in blood, etc. It was a really fun way to begin the second season.

Honorable Mentions: 4th Zone: Virus Zone II; 5th Zone: Mystery Zone

. . . and hey! That’s finally it! Let me know what you’ve been watching in the comments, and I’ll probably see you back here in about 3 months.