I have quick reviews of the newest seasons of two very different series from two different streaming services today. I'm trying to clear out my backlog of shows that I've been waffling over whether to write reviews for, so these are both a little late and not nearly as in-depth as the previous reviews of their earlier seasons. Oh well.
Let's start with "The Devil's Hour," which released a five-episode second season on Amazon Prime in October, with a third on the way. It's been a while since the first season, so my memory of it was pretty fuzzy. Fortunately, it only took me about an episode to get myself properly reoriented, even though "The Devil's Hour" is one of those twisty genre stories where people are keeping track of multiple realities and chronologies. The second season, fortunately, has drastically simplified its narrative so there's one big goal that everything is driving towards: identifying a mysterious psychopath who Lucy and Gideon know will plant a bomb in a toy store. The opener does happen out of sequence, but it's also aiming at filling in a lot of the story gaps left over from the first season.
We get a lot more Peter Capaldi this year, which is great, because Gideon is a really effective agent of chaos, and Capaldi's performance is highly entertaining. There's really only one major addition to the cast, Saffron Hocking as Sam Boyd, who works with Ravi in law enforcement and becomes a major obstacle. Other characters are much improved as they become more important to the story. Isaac is slowly turning into a real boy and revealing strong attachments, even if true emotions aren't quite there yet. His arc also benefits significantly from Lucy's mother Sylvia forming a connection with Isaac, and helping to voice some of the things that he isn't able to express. Lucy remains a good lead character, and I appreciate that she has to deal with a steep learning curve and is clearly not good at being a badass. She screws up several parts of the investigation and is woefully outmatched in almost every confrontation.
All in all "The Devil's Hour" is moving toward a more straightforward crime procedural model, and loses a lot of the atmospheric creepiness and existential dread that the first season had. I don't think this is a bad thing, but horror fans might be disappointed if they came into "The Devil's Hour" for a certain kind of story, and ended up getting something different. There is still a good deal of uncomfortable serial killer material in the story and the supernatural elements are retained, but I found "The Devil's Hour" altogether more watchable this year, even if the payoff wasn't as great. I look forward to the third season wrapping up this story.
On to our friends at the Arconia, who have come across their latest case just as Hollywood has come calling. Charles' stunt double and dear friend Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) goes missing, likely the victim of foul play. At the same time, "Only Murders in the Building" is going to be turned into a movie, produced by executive Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) and written by Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha). Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are going to be played by Eugene Levy, Zach Galifinakis, and Eva Longoria (all gamely playing themselves). There are a lot more guest stars in the mix this year, including suspects played by Richard Kind, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Kumail Nanjiani, Melissa McCarthy as Charles' sister, and Ron Howard as himself. Meryl Streep is back as Loretta, to continue the romance with Oliver, and so is Paul Rudd, despite being killed two seasons ago, via a new character I will not spoil.
It's a great season of "Only Murders in the Building," this time aiming its satirical barbs at the movie industry. There are some diverting form-breaking episodes, including one that uses found footage and mockumentary techniques. All the guest stars are great, though I'm sad that Melissa McCarthy only made it into one episode. Her brawl with Meryl is one of the high points of the season. In addition, each of the three leads gets their own subplot that mostly works this time around. Charles is out to avenge Sazz, Oliver is struggling in this long distance relationship with Loretta, and Mabel is a little depressed and considering her future. I don't think the season as a whole is quite as good as season three, because there isn't anything to match the joyous insanity of "Death Rattle Dazzle," but the pacing never dragged and I was more than satisfied with how everything played out.
Four seasons into any show, things tend to slow down, but "Only Murders" is still very much at the top of its game. I love the humor this year, especially the movie production providing a chance for the writers to get introspective and acknowledge their own plot holes. I love that there's a whole western section of the Arconia that nobody really interacts with, and a completely plausible explanation for why that is. I love that the stunt community is portrayed as a bunch of deeply committed wackos living in a perpetual barfight. Bring on season five!
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