Escapist Routes #30

hey, we've done this 30 times!

Task, season 1, episode 4

Look, I gotta say, I think this is a good series, it’s not flashy but it’s telling its story in a competent way, but I have a big complaint.

WHERE IS GRITTY?

Like. You’re doing sad Philadelphia men. Mare of Easttown but blokes. And I know exactly two things about Philadelphia: its people are unhinged, and its ice hockey team’s mascot is an orange chaos demon who smells of old hot dogs and brings joy to my heart.

And yet, the closest we’ve come to Gritty is a brief glimpse of a Flyers logo on a criminal’s burner phone.

I’m dying here.

Maybe it’s the slow burn. Maybe Gritty will turn out to be the mastermind all along. Or the mole in the taskforce? No, Gritty would never. Be a cop, that is.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure the mole is Tom’s boss. She was way too cavalier about dismissing his suspicions, and then made a serious “we have a problem” phone call as soon as he left the room, after which the op fell over and Cliff was captured by the Dark Hearts. (RIP Cliff, btw.) But also, you don’t cast Martha freaking Plimpton in such an insignificant role unless you’re planning to use her more later.

OTHERWISE. Tom continues to be sad, and is honestly letting Emily down. Robbie continues to be sad, and lets everyone down. Except his daughter, who can see that he’s trying. Kind of. In a “preparing to sell a pile of fentanyl, smuggle himself to Canada and get his niece and kids to follow him, along with, I guess, the child he kidnapped?” way.

The least sad, and also scariest, person in Philadelphia is senior Dark Hearts member Perry, played with affable menace by Jamie McShane. I’ve seen that man in so many things over the years, and literally the only time he wasn’t a villain was when he played a sweet Romulan dork in season 1 of Star Trek: Picard. Okay, he was also an ex-spy/assassin, but he also didn’t let Picard leave the planet without a packed lunch that included cheese, and I admire that. One day I’ll stop being mad about the way that series treated most of its characters. Just like one day I’ll stop being mad that we’re halfway through Task and there is still no sign of Gritty.

No, I think my expectations are reasonable.

Slow Horses, season 5, episodes 1 and 2

We open the new season to find the Slow Horses are going through a rough patch. Which is actually how every season opens, because the defining trait of the Slough House team is that their whole lives are one big rough patch.

But this is a particular low spot. Last season saw the death of Marcus, plus River learned that his father was an international terrorist, and he had to put his grandfather in an assisted living facility. Also his dad tried to kill him.

Obviously that’s a lot to bear, but I do think it’s a bit absurd that, while everyone else is mourning the death of a friend, and Louise is going so far as to take mental health leave with the long-term plan of retiring from the service (she continues to be the smartest person in Slough House), River is cracking the sads and being an asshole because, as Louise puts it, he’s going through a crisis of masculinity.

Hey, you know who’s not mourning or going through a crisis of masculinity? Roddy Ho. He has a girlfriend, and also someone is trying to kill him. These two things are equally alarming to his coworkers, although it takes Shirley a while to convince anyone that the latter is even happening.

Also, terrorists are radicalising British people and sending them off to commit acts of terrorism. That is also bad. And directly related to the plot against Roddy, although only the audience is aware of that until late in episode 2. Why? What is the goal here? I cannot wait to find out.

Things I love about this season so far:

  • Team Slough House lurking in a super trendy bar, because that’s the last place anyone would ever look for them

  • Roddy’s flat, 100% pure characterisation-through-set-design

  • Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso as the incumbent London mayor, presumably a Sadiq Khan type figure

  • Catherine’s vegetable dress

  • Taverner putting her high heels back on so she doesn’t have to answer her front door in stockings

Things I am less excited about:

  • River’s manpain

  • Louisa’s departure, although it’s always a victory when someone manages to leave Slough House alive and more or less functional

Things I actively dislike:

  • Diana Taverner’s hair this season and last, she has gone from Sexy Bob to Old Lady Hair and I do not care for it

The Morning Show, season 4, episode 3

Isn’t it interesting how both Slow Horses and The Morning Show this week had episodes about how the environmentalist movement is made up of terrorists and corrupt stooges of sinister forces? I have always assumed — based on the right to repair plotline in For All Mankind, among other things — that Apple doesn’t pay attention to the actual content of the television it makes. But this, plus the last-minute pulling of The Savant, suggests otherwise.

And I’m thinking about this because, wow, after a promising start with a lot of classic Morning Show nonsense, this episode ain’t it. Let’s return to the couch for a friendly morning television Q&A.

Liz! Welcome back to our fake breakfast television show where you dish on your feelings about The Morning Show this week. Now, you seem … unhappy about this latest episode, is that fair to say?

Yes, Liz, I am, but it’s hard to put my finger on precisely why. After all, this has never been a show about competent people, and it has always had an inflated idea of its own importance. I mean, this is a second-rate Sorkin pastiche that doesn’t realise that the Sorkin style has become a marker of toxic centrism.

But it’s hard to watch. Neither Bradley nor Alex have even a shred of a poker face, which I suppose is necessary for drama, but it’s frustrating to see these experienced professional women needing to have the fundamental basics of their jobs explained to them, over and over again. And, like, Alex is asked to compromise her principles as a journalist to appease an advertiser, but her real crisis is that her ex-boyfriend has a new girlfriend?

Did she really think silvering fox billionaire Jon Hamm was going to stay single?

Right. She’s always been a selfish character, but this naiveté at every turn is frustrating.

And speaking of naiveté…

I have to call myself out for trusting Stella. Well, not trusting, but I had faith in her ability to act in her own best interests. Sleeping with her boss’s husband is so stupid, like, of course it’s going to come out, and of course letting Cory blackmail her about it was going to have a ripple effect.

Marion has to know, right?

I wouldn’t be shocked. I mean, she is French.

Now, about Mia’s promotion…

Oh my gosh, so I have never actually believed for a minute that she was actually going to be made Head of News, but watching it all fall apart as a cavalcade of white and Asian women let her down was just a little too real. The Morning Show has always had a good grasp of how misogynoir works, and I guess I appreciate that Alex and Bradley are allowed to be this deeply flawed, but there’s always the nagging fear that the show doesn’t actually know how deeply flawed they are.

I guess what I have to ask myself is, does The Morning Show understand misogynoir, or does it simply perpetuate it?

And Bradley and Cory

I don’t want to talk about it. It is simply too silly for words. And not in the fun way.