SHOW OF THE WEEK: Reservation Dogs (Sept. 7, Disney+)
and Elva Guerra in Season 2 of “Reservation Dogs.” PHOTO CREDIT: Shane Brown/FX.
If I had to choose one word to describe Season 2 of “Reservation Dogs,” it would be “reconciliation” — but not in a “truth and” kind of way, although some truths are revealed. Rather, its characters begin to come to terms with hurts they have endured — or handed out — as the season progresses.
As it opens, our diehard quartet of friends on the rez is still splintered. Last season, Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs) ditched the other three to drive to California with their enemy Jackie (Elva Guerra), which leaves Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) unmoored and bitter.
Willie Jack (the hilarious Paulina Alexis) figures that the curse she put on Jackie is to blame for the group’s troubles and sets out to reverse it with the help of Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer) and his frenemy Bucky (Wes Studi). Shit-talking and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” are involved.
The affable Cheese (Lane Factor), meanwhile, is spending more time with his weed-growing Uncle Charley, which has consequences in a later episode.
Even their shrine to their dead friend Daniel has been destroyed to make way for a megachurch for white people.
The fact that Elora and Jackie have escaped Oklahoma’s Indian Territory doesn’t mean they are any freer than Bear, Willie or Cheese — particularly of grief over the suicides of Daniel and Jackie’s unnamed brother.
Meanwhile, the girls face dangers on the road. The words “missing and murdered Indigenous women” are never uttered, but they’re top of mind after encounters with a sleazeball who picks them up hitchhiking when their car breaks down and a pickup truck full of shotgun-toting crackers who chase Elora and Jackie when they try to steal another vehicle.
The genius of the show — aside from the fact it’s funny as hell — is the subtle way it tackles the ills that have befallen Indigenous communities after centuries of colonialism. Its humorous approach means you’re still laughing when you feel the sharp end of the stick. And fun is poked at Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.
For instance, the Indigi-hipster facilitators at a colonization symposium the teens are forced to attend — MissM8tri@rch and Augusto Firekeeper — acknowledge not only the tribes that have safeguarded the land, but Neanderthals, dinosaurs, star people and their reptilian relatives.
With Elora and Jackie back in town — forced to abandon their cursed trip by the death of Elora’s grandmother — the symposium allows some baby steps toward reconciliation with Bear, Willie and Cheese, although progress is just as quickly undone.
It takes a crisis involving Cheese to bring the five of them together in an episode that made me fall even more in love with Cheese and with Factor’s acting.
And the kids aren’t the only ones with reconciling to do. Bear’s mom Rita (Sarah Podemski) and her cousin Teenie (her real-life sister Tamara Podemski) have beefs to resolve when they attend an Indian Health Services conference; and in a hilarious and heartfelt episode, tribal officer Big (Zahn McClarnon) wrestles with the part he played in the death of Elora’s mother, Cookie.
There are so many gems this season. I haven’t even touched on things like spirit William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth) dispensing wisdom from a Porta Potty; Dr. Kang being initiated into “snagging” at the IHS conference (“Wear socks, medicine comes up through your feet”); or Marc Maron as a group home counsellor whose oddball back-story I won’t spoil by disclosing it here.
Just know that after screening eight of the season’s 10 episodes I’m even more enamoured of this wonderful show.
Disney also has several premieres on Sept. 8, so-called Disney+ Day, including the live action and CGI remake of “Pinocchio” (reviews are embargoed till the day it releases); Brie Larson’s coming-of-age docuseries “Growing Up”; animated series “Cars on the Road”; and nature docuseries “Epic Adventures With Bertie Gregory.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Now on Prime Video)
I don’t recall whether it was Patrick McKay or J.D. Payne who advised watching this grand series on the largest screen possible, but he was absolutely correct. I first saw the first two episodes in a screening room in a Toronto hotel and was blown away by them.
They seemed slightly less grand when I watched them again on my computer monitor, which doesn’t mean my enthusiasm was extinguished.
With apologies to co-creator McKay — who, at a virtual Television Critics Association panel, tried to differentiate “The Rings of Power” from other fantasy series, including “Game of Thrones” — this is the first TV show that has really reminded me of “Thrones” in its scope and ambition, including its geographic reach, its myriad plot lines and characters.
It’s also the most cinematic TV series I can recall seeing. Considering the money that Amazon has reportedly splashed out on this, it damn well should be.
It’s beautifully, expansively shot, from the golden glades of the elves’ Lindon to the cosy encampments of the Harfoot to the rough-hewn villages of men in the mountainous Southlands to the vast cave palace of the dwarves in Khazad-dum, and that’s just a small sampling of the places the show takes us and will take us as its first season rolls out.
Add in the lovingly detailed sets and costumes, the CGI, the dramatic score by Bear McCreary, and it’s a visual and aural feast.
But what struck me most after that initial screening was an appreciation for the characters.
Morfydd Clark is compelling as a younger version of the elf Galadriel, even when she’s being pigheaded and foolhardy in her quest to find and destroy Sauron. Robert Aramayo seems to exude the golden light of Lindon as the kind-hearted half-elf Elrond. The harfoot, including notables Markella Kavenagh, Dylan Smith, Lenny Henry and Megan Richards, are the most endearing of the characters. Elf prince Durin (Owain Arthur) and wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) give us a portrait of a enviably loving marriage. And then there’s the brooding Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) and his forbidden human love, healer Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), among the standouts in the first two episodes.
I can’t speak to how the show stacks up to the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movies. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I never watched them, being something of a snob about fantasy adaptations until I got sucked in by “Game of Thrones.”
It’s too soon to judge whether “The Rings of Power,” which reportedly has a five-season commitment, will bring Amazon the bang for its considerable bucks that it’s seeking, but I’m suitably captivated and intrigued by what I’ve seen so far.
Short Takes
The Serpent Queen (Sept. 11, Star on Crave)
If you’re a historical purist avert your eyes from “The Serpent Queen.” If you like your history with a little protofeminist revisionism and cheeky fourth wall-breaking then step right up. Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (“Sweet and Lowdown,” “In America”) portrays Catherine de Medici (or de’ Medici), an orphaned Italian noblewoman who became queen of France and mother of three French kings in the 16th century. The series plays up Catherine’s reputation for ruthlessness — hence the series title — while purporting to explain her actions (“Tell me what you would have done differently” is the tag line). The conceit is that an adult Catherine (Morton) is telling her new maid Rahima (Sennia Nanua) the story of how she came to the French court as a 14-year-old (played by Liv Hill) to marry Henry (Alex Heath), second son of the king of France (Colm Meaney). As troubles pile up — including the death of her uncle the pope (Charles Dance), the shortchanging of her dowry, her inability to provide an heir and her husband’s besottedness with his older mistress, Diane de Poitiers (Ludivine Sagnier) — Catherine finds ways to thwart her enemies. Sure, the series takes liberties with the facts, but the three episodes I watched were very entertaining.
The Resort (Sept. 11, 9 p.m., Showcase/StackTV)
You have to suspend a lot of disbelief in this series about an American couple who take an anniversary trip to a Mexican resort and stumble on a mystery involving a pair of 20-something tourists who disappeared from a different resort 15 years before. William Jackson Harper (“The Good Place,” “The Underground Railroad”) and Cristin Milioti (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Made for Love”) play Noah and Emma, whose 10-year marriage appears to be in a precarious state by the time they arrive at Bahia del Paraiso. They begin to rekindle their relationship after Emma tumbles off an ATV in the jungle and conveniently finds a phone that belonged to Sam (Skyler Gisondo), the young man who vanished from the now derelict Oceana Vista resort. Noah and Emma start unravelling the mystery of what happened to Sam and Violet (Nina Bloomgarden) and how it might connect to the wealthy Frias family, despite suggestions they’re putting themselves in danger. “The Resort” appears to have pretensions to be a commentary on time and love, and how the past relates to the present, but based on the two episodes I watched, it’s mostly just about a couple of bored, booze-swilling tourists having an adventure.
Odds and Ends
I screened only one episode of “Gutsy” (Sept. 9, Apple TV+), the docuseries based on “The Book of Gutsy Women” by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton. That’s not enough to do a proper review, but you won’t find me complaining about any show that puts a spotlight on women who are making a mark in an increasingly hostile world.
Speaking of gutsy woman, fictional lawyer Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) struggles with a deteriorating political reality in the sixth and final season of “The Good Fight” (Sept. 8, 9 p.m., W Network/StackTV).
Netflix has way more stuff than I care to list here, but a sampling includes South Korean drama “Once Upon a Small Town” (Sept. 5), about a big city doctor who strikes up a romance with a policewoman after reluctantly moving to the countryside; another “Untold” documentary, “The Race of the Century” (Sept. 6), about the 1983 America’s Cup contest; food series “Chef’s Table: Pizza” (Sept. 7); true crime doc “Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer” (Sept. 7); and Season 5 of “Cobra Kai” (Sept. 9).
Finally, Acorn has a new mystery series with a woman of a certain age in the lead (and I am always down with that, being of a certain age myself). In “Recipes for Love and Murder” (Sept. 5), Maria Doyle Kennedy (“Outlander,” “Orphan Black”) is a recipe and advice columnist investigating a killing in a small South African town with the help of a rookie journalist (Kylie Fisher) and a reluctant police detective (Tony Kgoroge).
NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.
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