What I'm Watching: Masters of the Air, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and More

Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, AMC

Here’s a quick rundown on everything I watched, read, and wrote* about last week:

The shows:

• I finally finished Six Feet Under, and no amount of reading about the series finale over the years could’ve prepared me for how hard it would actually hit (especially given my status as an only daughter who just moved far from home!). Someday I’ll pick myself up off the floor and articulate my thoughts on this show properly, but for now, I’ll just say it was a truly perfect end to an endearingly imperfect story.
• Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air has some technical problems – overused and inconsistent CGI, awkwardly blatant ADR that I hope was just in my screener copy – but at its halfway point, it’s grown on me. The limited series about a group of American WWII bomber pilots will inevitably be compared to previous Tom Hanks-Steven Spielberg collaborations (namely Band of Brothers), and its sometimes nostalgic and patriotic shine feels weirdly out of place several decades (and wars) after that show’s success, but the series is fairly riveting in its own right. Visually, it’s a misfire, but the cast is solid and it gets better as it goes on. The plot’s multi-mission structure forces viewers to grow more and more cynical and depressed in real time alongside the characters, so I’m interested to see how the whole sad saga wraps up.
• I’ve only caught one episode of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, but I’m pleasantly surprised to admit that the premiere goes hard. Cinematic, shocking, expansive, and acutely aware of what audiences want from a show about original series protagonist Rick Grimes and fan favorite hero Michonne, this spinoff once again has me (cautiously) excited about a franchise I quit loving a full decade ago.

The movies:

• We picked an offbeat movie night watch for Valentine’s Day this year: 1988’s Love Bites, a barely-seen, ultra-low budget gay vampire comedy with all the aesthetic trappings of an amateur ‘80s softcore flick. I started this movie assuming I’d be making fun of its cornball performances and ridiculous directorial choices the whole time, but I ended it impressed by the poetic ending, a brand of camp that feels like a direct predecessor to True Blood, and a hilariously sassy standout performance from actor Chris Ladd. As goofy as this film is, it’s also a sobering reminder of a whole generation of talent and life lost; Ladd, an obviously vibrant comedic talent, passed away just 2 years after the movie’s release, apparently from AIDs.

Odds and ends:

• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ended 10 years ago, yet I somehow find myself missing the wild, nimble, heavily improvised talk show more and more all the time. Ferguson’s podcast, Joy, isn’t much like the show at all – it focuses on longform, sometimes deep conversations with guests – but it’s still as witty and disarmingly honest as the rest of the comedian’s work. If you need something stimulating to listen to while you have a morning cup of coffee or tea, this show’s good for that.
• I feel like I’ve been halfway through several meatier books for several weeks now, but I finally broke up the monotony with a quick read, Kevin Panetta’s Bloom. A coming-of-age graphic novel about a baker’s son falling for his new coworker, Bloom is sweet, sincere, and breezy enough to finish in one sitting.

*By the way, I actually have no new writing to offer this week, as I remain in visa purgatory for the remainder of February. I do have projects in the works, though, so expect some original writing here soon as well as at least one fun piece scheduled at Slashfilm. Thanks for sticking with me in the meantime. As always, let me know what you’ve been watching lately in the comments, if you feel so inclined.