The Morning Show, Love Life, and Eternals backlash
Life and love and work in New York :), plus what's up with the latest MCU film
Hello!
On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss The Morning Show and Love Life, two very different shows exploring complicated relationships.
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02:40 The Morning Show, streaming on Apple TV+, surprisingly stuck the landing in season 1, but it remains to be seen whether the mess of storylines in season 2 can congeal into a coherent, intelligent whole.
What to make of The Morning Show, a very expensive series that seems to have decided it wants to be both a campy soap and a serious prestige drama? Like everything in this show, it’s complicated. There are real thorny, knotty issues — about “cancel culture,” complicity, moral ambiguity, etc. — that the show wants to explore, and sometimes it succeeds in raising interesting questions, but those are fewer and farther between. Instead, the series relies too much on sheer star power, which results in some shallow character development and motivations, too many storylines, and an overarching sense of self-indulgence. (But still, entertaining to watch more often than not.)
22:42 Love Life, streaming on HBO Max, is pulling off a really good season 2, thanks to quality writing, direction, performances, and more.
The best romantic works of TV and film are not about the romance itself, but about how people grow emotionally through these connections that they form — however briefly — with each other. Love Life is that kind of show, and it’s both a breeze and a pleasure to watch. This anthology series is smarter than a saccharine rom-com, and the way it fleshes out these characters and all their highlights and flaws is really well done. If you like season 2 (which is currently airing), you will probably like season 1, too!
37:51 Plus, culture notes about why critics seem to be sour on Eternals (and why fans are sour on critics being sour on Eternals).
Hint, this is not it:
Bonus links
Fun fact: ‘Eternals’ Director Chloé Zhao Says Harry Styles Has Been On Her Radar Since ‘Dunkirk’.
Wonderful trip down Faberge egg lane:
That’s it for now! See you next week.
— Jenny
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Some credits:
Music: REEKAH
Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu