Mine? - Friday Video Distractions with Mike Norton

 

    If one finds much of their life having disappearing in a Mittyesque fog of escapist revisions of personal history, means of playing with time come to mind fairly commonly. It shouldn't be a surprise to find that others have had a similar turn of mind.

   In Parallel (2020, 104 min. currently available on Amazon Prime) a quartet of struggling twenty-somethings stumble into an incredible advantage. Their first experience with exploiting it involves one of my earliest time-related fantasies - something I'm sure that's common to all serial procrastinators "suddenly" squeezed by now-impossible deadline: A special place to go where one can experience hours, days or longer, doing whatever one wanted or needed to get done, then hop back to one's original reality, where a tiny fraction of the time has passed.

     That they find themselves backed into a corner by an unscrupulous acquaintance gives them a  moral edge with this. From there, other possibilities arise, and personal character is tested alongside notions of fairness and, ultimately, of subjective reality. If one can visit, pillage,  exploit, and leave other realities at will, how tempting does it eventually come to think of them and those living there as not being "real"? How long does it take before a selfish reflex incorporates a found advantage into a sense of entitlement and innate superiority?
     Despite, or even in part because of, dark themes that arise, it's an enjoyable trip. Rather than gripe about seemingly missed opportunities to explore other pitfalls of even the first advantage they found in this, I'll instead commend the filmmaker's restraint and focus.
     Over on Peacock - available at the free level, with a quick and painless sign-up - are the first three episodes of a new sitcom co-created by Ed Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas, and Michael Shur: Rutherford Falls.

     The series leads are Ed Helms, playing the largely clueless, privileged, but sincere Nathan Rutherford, and Jana Schmieding as Reagan Wells, who are best friends, each with their own passion for their town and their people's history. Nathan Rutherford avoids being pure, repugnant cliche by being utterly sincere, benign of intent, and committed to his vision.
     As noted, the first three episodes are accessible to all, while the remaining six are behind a subscription paywall. While I watched and generally enjoyed the first three episodes I'm still not coaxed into wanting to add yet another subscription package. (Note: Peacock offers two tiers of subscription beyond the limited-access Free level. For $4.99 a month everything is unlocked, but there are commercials. For $9.99/month most - but somehow not all (due to some specific contractual obligations, apparently) - of the commercials go away. As I understand it the pay levels have a 7-day free trial window, so I should start to put together a list of currently walled-off content of interest to me. When it looks long and intriguing enough, and I clear the time, I can give it a try, see how much of it I can clear out in a week, and then decide.
     Series co-creator Shur is most quickly known to us as the co-creator of both Parks and Recreation (which I binged and generally enjoyed) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which, for no particular reason, I've not seen an episode of), but known most fondly by me as the creator The Good Place. It's largely on the strength of that last credit that I got around to giving this a look. This new series has more in common with Parks and Recreation, as it's built around two characters each with a passion for their hometown history and a tireless commitment to sharing it with the world.
 
    Updates on a couple ongoing series I've mentioned in previous pieces:

     Debris (NBC, Mondays 10 PM Eastern) nearly lost me with this week's conclusion to a two-parter, making for my Crazy Old Man Rants Aloud At the TV moment for the week. With the clock literally ticking on a Hail Mary play to keep reality from collapsing, for a character to decide to stop and have an emotional moment was about as welcome as having the manicurist decide to slip a bamboo shoot deeply under a fingernail. This on top of questionable mechanics for the reality hops and time resets brought by this latest bit of alien debris. I was likely bothered by this a bit more because I'd spoken up for the show early in the week.
     On another network, while I haven't yet watched this week's episode - the first new one in a month - I've so far been a fan of the psychological horror crime procedural Clarice (CBS, Thursdays 10 PM Eastern). Based on characters from Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs, this series spills out from a version of that novel (and the Jodie Foster film based on it), the only major element missing is that

complicated rights issues mean in this tv universe version there was no Hannibal Lechter involved. If that initially irritates, look at the bright sides of it: Hannibal generally takes up most of the oxygen in the room, so his absence allows other characters to have a chance of blossoming here, and you still have the movies and - especially - the wonderful if too short-lived Hannibal series to revisit. (NOTE to Netflix viewers: That series will be disappearing from the platform on June 5th, ending its one year tour there. I haven't pinned down if it's then headed to Peacock or not. So, you've just under a month if you've been wanting to rewatch any or all of that three-season run.)
     With Clarice, the quality of the cast, and the layered, parallel sub-plots, drew me in despite my initial skepticism. Because it has strong continuity elements I would not recommend someone jumping

in with a random episode. If you have Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access, before the re-branding earlier this year) that's the best place to catch up on it. Next choice would be going to CBS.com, where all eight episodes are currently available, seemingly to anyone -- though the interface is clunky, so have patience as the spinning, dashed-line circle lets you know it's loading.
     Broadcast tv looks more and more like a dinosaur, providing an unnecessarily hostile environment for its shows. With the frequent breaks in programming schedules I'm amazed if their shows even have a chance to build a traditional broadcast audience. Consider that Clarice debuted in February, where they gave it five consecutive weeks of shows... then skipped most of a month (shunted aside by the unholy stench of March Madness) before come back for two episodes in early April, then another break before returning this week, with another new episode next week... then it'll jump to June. Taking that as a delivery stream for a show with multiple storylines, seems absurd. It's a wonder any shows get to thrive, and simultaneously it's no wonder at all why so few people I know under 35 have any sense of network TV. They may see something once it makes the leap to a streaming platform they have access to, but before that it's, at best, some vague buzz a few people they know might be making.

    That's all I have time for this week. Work demands, and the general drain of too many gray, drippy days, each take a toll. Another week down, now to see if I make anything of the weekend. Take care. - Mike