The anticipated series returned with a studded and shortened season. While it made do with its eight episodes and strong cast, the overall conclusion is that the sophomore season was underwhelming and inconsistent.

It didn’t meet the same standards as the first season. But let’s get into all of that with our Accused Season 2 Report Card.

Best Episode – Accused Season 2 Episode 2: April’s Story

Taylor Schilling was fantastic as an overwhelmed, working wife and mother to a child with behavioral issues on Accused Season 2 Episode 2.

The hour was one many could resonate with as it all boiled down to having an awful day. Everything that could go wrong went wrong for April as work, family, and life demands probed at her at once.

Road Rage takes center stage, but the hour does a fantastic job of touching on other issues in more nuanced ways to build up to the damning moment at hand.

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It sheds light on the type of caretaker burnout that people like April, particularly mothers, often endure, as well as the lack of support that happens in an imbalanced marriage.

Apil’s journey to seek help for her special needs son is particularly compelling and illuminating regarding the plight of securing services and help for families in need.

Her hectic morning turned into something far scarier and more sinister as a bout of road rage escalated to something beyond comprehension that had her and another driver’s life at risk and eventually resulted in tragedy.

The entire hour unfolds like a suspense thriller as we watch April and a truly deplorable fellow driver, played by Justin Chambers, engage in a teeth-gnashing road rage incident that has you begging the screen for one of them to simply call it quits.

But no one does, as the stressors of her everyday life lead April to snap and fully commit to being as reckless and dangerous as the man harassing her.

“April’s Story” is thrilling and all too familiar, which makes it one of the most relatable hours of the season.

Even if you haven’t been in April’s shows or can relate to her on any level, you at least know people who have been and can.

The best episodes of Accused are the stories that simply nail the human experience and resonate with the audience.

“April’s Story” also has a satisfying conclusion that feels at least somewhat realistic, given the circumstances.

Worst Episode – Accused Season 2 Episode 5: Margot’s Story

Everything about this hour should’ve been strong.

We had theater legends in an episode that centered on senior-aged friendship.

We’ve already discussed the importance of seeing senior-led stories on display and how long we long for simple tales like The Golden Girls, which remains a staple and beloved series to many three and four generations later.

But “Margot’s Story ” was nothing exciting. Its attempts to touch on things like grief or senior-aged loneliness fell short. And there was something offputting about how naive and gullible Margot was throughout the whole hour.

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She didn’t have to be a likable character, but it would have at least been nice if she was interesting in any way, and she wasn’t. Nor was the case that involved a man scamming elders except for her because of some genuine connection they made that never popped.

Then Margot recklessly pursued her scamming dance instructor and, even more frustratingly, decided to help him escape. Overall, it was an underwhelming hour.

Honorary Mention – Accused Season 2 Episode 8: Eugene’s Story

When we learned about the cast, Ken Jeong stepping into a more dramatic role was one of the biggest selling points for the second season.

I will not diminish Jeong’s performance as Eugene. He did a perfectly sound job, and I look forward to him pursuing other dramatic roles in the future.

But overall, Accused Season 2 Episode 7 was lackluster and dull. It was difficult to connect with or care about most characters, and very little of what transpired made sense.

Viewers pondered whether Eugene’s idolized version of his supremely flawed wife existed or was ever feasible. It was merely a passing question one had by the end of the hour that disappeared shortly after because it was hard to invest enough time to care about or even examine the questions and answers.

Accused typically raises interesting questions about humanity, our flaws, the complexities of the legal and criminal justice system, and more, but the hour mostly just left us feeling empty.

Weirdest Episode – Accused Season 2 Episode 8: Megan’s Story

A sex robot scandal and murder would go down as Accused’s most bizarre episode to date.

Accused Season 2 Episode 8 took a big swing with this one, and it had mixed results. Some genuinely enjoyed the hour, while others lamented what this series used to be.

The episode’s cast was strong, and they all gave solid performances, but the plot felt like something from Black Mirror or Humans. What were we supposed to do with it?

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And because “Megan’s Story” felt like something set in the near future, does that mean we have Accused expanding its timeline unexpectedly if the series returns for another season?

The salacious absurdity of the case overshadowed any conversations about AI, technology, ambitious women, and gender roles.

Best Leading Performance – Taylor Schilling

Taylor Schilling helmed “April’s Story,” and she performed like the rent was due by the end of the day and the clock was winding down.

Her performance was riveting. She kept viewers glued to the screens and sold every bit of April’s desperation, frustration, and frenzy. Schilling made April such a relatable character who jumped off the screen.

Schilling delivered a tour de force performance in a single installment, which is also why the episode was the best of the season and felt the most like Accused Season 1.

Honorary Mention – Michael Chiklis

Chiklis can’t do much wrong, and he once again delivered another fantastic performance during Accused Season 2 Episode 4.

“Justin’s Story” covered so much ground regarding working-class people trying to make do with their lives and the crappy cards that life doles out to them with the desire to leave a dead-end town and aspire for better.

Via Justin, you could feel all the heartbreak, resentment, and love poured from him as the hometown hero whose great shot at making it big fell through.

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He devoted so much time to ensuring that his athletes could get the chances that life took from him, and so much of that was clouded by the genuine love he still had for his ex.

The work-class heroes nature of this arc felt incredibly authentic and like a rare peak into the stories that most touch many Americans yet aren’t shown.

Best Supporting Performance – Dina Shihabi

Of course, “Val’s Story” was all about the indelible Cobie Smulders, and it’s no surprise that she does a remarkable job carrying the role and sucking us into Val’s story and her experience as a domestic abuse survivor.

Val was compelling enough in her own right, but Shihabi, as Jordan, stole Accused Season 2 Episode 6. The episode easily could’ve focused exclusively on Jordan as it was every bit of her tale and experience, as Val’s.

Shihabi performed her role as such, a strong co-lead who could match Smulders bit by bit and fully capture the layers of exploring abuse and how it impacts those who are survivors of it.

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It was a fascinating hour that did its diligence in adequately capturing trauma survivors. The stark contrast between Val and Jordan made for a well-rounded approach to addressing the subject matter.

Some of Shihabi’s standout scenes were her coming clean about everything while on the stand and her vulnerability when expressing the details of her relationship with Trey to Val, as the sisterhood between these two seemingly opposing figures was cemented.

Guest Star Who was Wasted: William H. Macy

The season was filled to the brim with some heavy hitters and familiar faces, and Accused typically does a decent job of utilizing each of them properly.

But William H. Macy was underused in Accused Season 2 Episode 1, Lorraine’s Story.

Considering that Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy starred in the sophomore season and actually alongside one another in an episode was a huge promotional point for the season, the result was shockingly underwhelming.

Macy’s character could’ve just as easily not been part of the episode for all of his importance, and his muted role and less than four minutes of screen time were extremely disappointing.

Best Plot Twist – TJ/Nico Twin Reveal

One of the season’s best and most unexpected plot twists was learning that victim TJ had a disabled twin brother in “Justin’s Story.”

We spent much of the hour trying to figure out the nature of the crime and why Justin was standing trial. For most of it, we could assume that he was on trial for disabling a rising athlete bound for greatness.

But then the hour pulls the rug from under our feet by revealing that it wasn’t TJ sitting in that courtroom alongside his mother, but his twin brother, Nico.

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The twin reveal also added more layers and context to all the characters’ motivations and the situation at hand, which was now dire. TJ felt the pressure of making a name for himself, in large part so he could afford to take care of his twin.

Erica lied and covered for TJ and his steroid use because she needed him to make it big just as much as he did for the same reason of helping the family take care of Nico and his medical expenses.

Worst Plot Twist – Val and Jordan’s Unrealistic Happily Ever After

Val and Jordan escaping any type of punishment for their actions veered deep into unrealistic territory, resulting in an ending that undermined an otherwise strong episode.

Val threatening the prosecutor with the possibility of lying on the stand and evoking double jeopardy shifted far into ridiculous storylines for the plot only and strayed from Accused’s usual approach when exploring the nuances of the justice system.

The blatant manipulation tactic was offputting and felt like a tacked-on ending for the sole purpose of providing Val and Jordan with the type of happy ending that often eludes women whose status as domestic abuse survivors frequently finds them victims of the justice system, too.

Overall Grade: C

Accused Season 2 paled compared to its debut season, resulting in an incredibly underwhelming return.

The series’ formatting shifted a few times, making the approach to future seasons unclear, and it often felt as if the series lost sight of what made it so compelling in the first place.

Most of the cases were unmemorable, like Accused Season 2 Episode 3. They attempted to touch on too many themes and issues without properly delving into any of them meaningfully, or they didn’t address anything at all.

The second season had a strong cast of familiar faces we loved, but far too many were underutilized, or the material didn’t match their performances.

The whole season was inconsistent. In fact, we noticed a pattern of every mediocre or underwhelming installment being followed by a strong one that gave us glimpses of what the series used to be. As a result, the season never found its rhythm.

Unfortunately, for a highly anticipated series, Accused’s second season fell unfathomably short and resulted in an average and mediocre season, words one never envisioned uttering about this series.

Over to you, Accused Fanatics.

How did you feel about the second season?

What were your favorite parts? What do you think the series needs to work on?

Do you think it’ll get renewed? Sound off below!

The post Accused Season 2 Report Card: Flashes of Brilliance in a Sea of Mediocrity appeared first on TV Fanatic.

No, the answer, my dear Rookie Fanatics, is a resounding no!

News sources have been talking today about a second spinoff in the works for ABC’s popular cop drama. Under any other circumstances, it might appeal to fans.

However, for those of us still reeling from the mixed bag that was The Rookie: Feds, we’re skeptical about ABC’s attempt to expand a popular franchise.

For starters, franchise fatigue is most certainly real.

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Television has built a new era around franchises, spinoffs, revivals, reboots, and adaptations.

It’s not to say that many of them aren’t good or even successful. NCIS: Origins has been one of the most delightful expansions of the NCIS franchise in quite some time.

Dick Wolf pretty much cornered the market on franchises with three different ones across two different networks with Law & Order, One Chicago, and FBI, and, hell, he’ll probably do the same with the upcoming On Call on Prime.

Cop procedurals, in particular, are always wildly and massively successful and are typically a safe bet.

ABC has already realized that franchises or showrunner supremacy serve them well.

The Grey’s Anatomy universe has been the network’s bread and butter, and we’re still lamenting the loss of the Shondaland series primetime domination from many years ago.

But now, they’ve focused on making Ryan Murphy productions a network staple, especially after adapting 9-1-1.

The 9-1-1 franchise will expand as well with new series (Sorry, 9-1-1: Lone Star, you had to die so that whatever new locale could thrive in its new home).

And now, ABC is trying their hand at yet another The Rookie spinoff, despite how easily they threw in the towel with Niecy Nash Betts’ The Rookie: Feds.

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Some of us are still a bit bitter about things like Suits: LA making its debut soon to capitalize on the renewed success of Suits and expand that franchise all these years later.

And that’s to the chagrin of all four of us Pearson Fanatics, who never got to see the first spinoff get the success it deserved.

Everywhere you look, and on every network, they’ve opted to produce repeats or extensions of what they feel works instead of taking bolder risks and creating original, fresh content.

It sucks, even as someone who enjoys a spinoff or two or entire franchises; it’s disappointing that everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel instead of taking a big swing at manufacturing something new entirely.

And The Rookie, my dear TV Fanatics, epitomizes “more of the same.” They’re not even attempting to do anything different with this latest spinoff.

Instead, after the unsuccessful spinoff that saw a middle-aged, queer woman of color getting a fresh start as an FBI agent, no matter how implausible it was, the new spinoff intends to stick to the original formatting.

What is the new spinoff’s premise, you ask?

The spinoff follows a male cop stepping into a new phase of life in his second act.

So, the series will once again be about a middle-aged man who is having a midlife crisis and will become a cop.

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Are you blinking as much as I am right now? Isn’t that the exact same format as the original Nathan Fillion-led show?

Oh, wait, you guys. What distinguishes this from the original series is that it will take place somewhere in the state of Washington!

And by Washington, I’ll bet your bottom dollar it’s somewhere in Seattle because, let’s be real, everyone acts like Seattle is the only city in Washington!

Hey, maybe, if we’re lucky, they can somehow finagle a crossover with Grey’s Anatomy or something. Doubtful, but a girl can dream.

So, not only has The Rookie opted to repeat the original series verbatim, but they’re also essentially borrowing from the 9-1-1 franchise.

We’ll just replicate the same show over and over again and place it in a new location!

It feels like they’re resubmitting an old assignment with a new date and title and keeping their fingers crossed for the best.

The thing is, that works for 9-1-1 as a first responder show that deals more exclusively with firefighters and paramedics responding to a wide array of calls that can be culturally specific to whatever locale they’re in (earthquakes and wildfires in Los Angeles or cowboy-themed foolery in Texas).

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It doesn’t have the same feel when you’re exclusively dealing with law enforcement.

While responses were mixed regarding the award-winning Betts leading The Rookie: Feds spinoff, it was genuinely refreshing to explore a woman entering a new stage of her life via a career change.

There was nothing wrong with that concept on its own, and it’s a storyline worth exploring because we’ve exhausted storylines about men and their midlife crises for 50 years!

Would it have killed anyone to have at least this latest spinoff be female-led just for some razzle-dazzle?

And that’s where the news of this spinoff elicits more boredom and frustration than excitement.

The Rookie has been on the air for seven years and is still one of the network’s top series. It is massively successful and possibly still has a lot of life left in it.

It’s worrisome that Hawley and ABC could stretch themselves thin by devoting their attention to a newer, flashier version of the exact same series rather than focusing on the one they already have.

And if they were going to do that, wouldn’t it be worth it if they actually, you know, switched things up a bit or took a more original approach to this new series?

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We can at least feel it’s worth it or understand the purpose.

Given the franchise’s ongoing theme, the irony of potentially replacing The Rookie with a more current, younger version of the exact same series isn’t lost.

I get not knocking what already works, but this is ridiculous and a bit underwhelming.

But maybe we’re being premature. As new information trickles in about this spinoff, with interesting casting and a more detailed synopsis, we could change our minds about this.

For now, The Rookie, essentially copying and pasting itself to expand its universe, is a prime example of everything wrong, archaic, annoying, and underwhelming about the franchise era and why viewers are over it.

Over to you, The Rookie Fanatics.

What do you think about yet another spinoff?

Do you like that they’re repeating the same concept in a new location? Sound off below.

Watch The Rookie Online

The post Copy & Paste: Franchise Fatigue & Why The Rookie’s New Spinoff Already Lost Us appeared first on TV Fanatic.

A series isn’t much fun if it doesn’t have a flawed character who somehow resonates with the audience, whether they lean more dark or are a burst of light. Characters who recognize and embrace their flaws are some of the most compelling to watch.

And we couldn’t resist breaking down some of the characters who fit the bill.

Rafe Cameron – Outer Banks

By now, we’ve discussed what went wrong in Outer Banks Season 4 and even mourned the loss of our comfort show. But moving on, the series is full of flawed characters who are somehow endearing.

No one fits the bill better than Kook King Rafe Cameron. He’s objectively a terrible person at times; his long list of crimes includes nearly killing his own sister, for starters. But this is Outer Banks, baby, where Rafe’s flaws somehow work within this series.

A self-professed killer, Rafe is, at times, mentally unstable, driven by traits like revenge and greed. Still, he’s also bound by values like legacy and family, culminating in him doing unspeakable things for oddly noble reasons.

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Rafe knows who he is and he rarely apologizes for it. However, he does make the necessary adjustments and proves himself through actions. And that’s why there’s something strangely admirable about the character—how he knows himself so well and stands in who he is, good, bad, and ugly.

Rafe isn’t a perfect character or even a good person. Still, he’s authentic, which makes him click into place and resonate well amid the class lines that often revolve around superficiality and identity crises in Outer Banks.

Watch Outer Banks Online

Morgan Gillory – High Potential

Who hasn’t fallen in love with Morgan Gillory and High Potential?

She’s witty, intelligent, messy, and prone to making mistakes in many aspects of her life, but she’s genuinely good-hearted. Her style, openness, and honesty make her stand out. She wears her working-class background on her brazenly bright, gaudy faux fur sleeve.

She is gifted intellectually but realistically stalled in life, making her a less glamorous and more realistic depiction of neurodivergence and genuinely relatable as a character.

She’s imperfect and will be the first to tell you that upfront. She readily accepts that she’s flawed but still strives to be a better mother, friend, and person.

Morgan always holds her own and is true to herself, even though she oversteps boundaries, is pushy, and lacks a filter. That’s what makes her so likable.

Watch High Potential Online

Oliver Wolf – Brilliant Minds

Oliver is absolutely brilliant, as the Brilliant Minds‘ title implies, but he’s such a deliciously complex character, not without many flaws and imperfections. He’s a socially awkward, introverted gay luddite with face blindness! And damn if we don’t love him for it.

Oliver is a fantastic doctor who focuses as much on connecting with his patients as he is on fixing their health issues. His unique approach to practicing medicine is often rooted deeply in a traumatic past of dealing with an emotionally distant mother and a father who battled and died from mental illness.

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Oliver’s flaws and experiences allow him to lead with genuine compassion and sympathy. He not only wholly embraces what makes him different and flawed and his own shortcomings, but he subsequently teaches and inspires other characters to do the same.

Oliver is a quietly inspiring character who continues to battle issues but learns how to step outside of them, and he’s a poster child for how to live one’s life, distancing oneself from shame, self-doubt, and second-guessing.

And we get to see his ongoing journey of unlearning these habits along the way.

Watch Brilliant Minds Online

Beth Dutton – Yellowstone

Beth Dutton has a sharp tongue, quick wit, and the ability to destroy everything in her path, which is one of many reasons she’s one of Yellowstone‘s greatest characters.

She’s a deeply flawed woman hardened by many hurts and betrayals, turning her grief, pain, and previous trauma into a thick armor that makes her nearly indestructible.

She’s fearless, ruthless, intelligent, cunning, unafraid, and unapologetic about doing whatever it takes to get what she desires or handle something. Still, she’s fiercely loyal to most of her family and deceptively soft and vulnerable, particularly when she gets to bury herself in Rip’s arms.

Beth is a host of contradictions, a viper unafraid to strike first, hard, and fast if need be. She is most assuredly an acquired taste to many, but that makes her one of the most genuinely refreshing characters on the air and as real as it gets, baby.

Watch Yellowstone Online

BoJack Horseman – Bojack Horseman

There’s a reason why this character tends to resonate with many viewers when they tune in.

Bojack Horseman is painfully himself throughout the series. He’s selfish, cynical, and totally self-destructive at almost all times. He’s one of the most toxic characters you’ll see, especially to those around him.

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But in knowing that, and how openly he addresses his mental illnesses, addiction issues, and all the ways in which he fails in life, that raw honesty is endearing and refreshing, and in some ways, maybe even deeply inspiring.

He tries to improve, but not so earnestly and consistently that it feels inauthentic and forced. There are no delusions about him.

Watch Bojack Horseman Online

Samantha Jones – SATC

Samantha Jones is a feminist icon of a television character for a reason.

She is sexually liberated in a way that we hadn’t seen, unapologetic about her sexual appetite and desires, brash, bold, and progressive in a way that challenges those around her.

Samantha rarely has a filter. She is blunt to a fault, incredibly vain, and materialistic.

But she is fiercely loyal, protective, and open-minded, and through her relationships, she learns how to be vulnerable, intimate, and committed.

Watch Sex and the City Online

Robert Spearing – Industry

Oh, Robert, the sweet and, at times, pathetic soul that he is, it’s hard not to love every bit of him.

Robert is one of Industry‘s most flawed characters, which speaks volumes for a series that is essentially all about flaws. He’s often out of his depth, someone who tends to lack confidence, fumbles through the basics of his job and is gullible and easily manipulated.

The thing about Robert is that in the world Industry cultivates, he’s mostly a genuinely good person, but because he lacks the ambition, ruthlessness, and arrogance of the other characters, he tends to fall short and stand out.

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But he offers a nice, albeit sad, at times, counterbalance to the other characters, and despite his hopeless love for a woman who’ll never properly love him back or his aspirations to climb up the social class ranks to no avail, you genuinely root for him.

And he holds fast in trying to navigate a world where he’s a guppy in shark-infested waters without sacrificing too much of what makes him. It’s quietly defiant.

Watch Industry Online

Ted Lasso – Ted Lasso

Truthfully, Ted Lasso is so aggressively positive, nice, and kind that it feels surreal and should be one of the most offputting things ever.

It’s a clear facade to some degree, masking deep pain and Ted’s depression, but how he pours himself into being a good person despite how awful he often feels aside is part of what makes the character so great.

Ted Lasso proves that you don’t have to be an asshole just because you’re hurting, and he inspires and often pulls out the best in those around him despite his shortcomings and how he behaves because of them.

Watch Ted Lasso Online

Gregory House – House M.D.

House is an arrogant doctor who completely disregards the feelings of those around him.

And yes, this disregard extends to a mostly abhorrent bedside manner that typically involves him offending everyone in the room.

He’s outspoken, snarky, blunt, and rude, and most of the time, he seems to get off on making people miserable. He also has a pretty bad painkiller addiction that only brings out the worst of his traits when he gets agitated.

But you can never accuse House of not keeping 100 at all times, and there’s something commendable about his willingness to embrace his worst traits without a second thought.

Watch House Online

Rose Nylund – The Golden Girls

How does the saying go? Oh, right, Rose Nylund is as dumb as a bag of rocks.

Her naivete and intellectual challenges make her a flawed character, but her innocence and moments of purity and clarity make up for it.

What’s great about Rose is that she’s conscious of how dumb she sounds often but is also not ashamed of what she doesn’t know.

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She’s always open to learning more and growing and wholly accepts and embraces her shortcomings, even putting up with the ribbing and jokes in the interim.

Most people are too self-conscious to admit when they’re out of their depth, so there’s a bravery to Rose’s authenticity.

Watch The Golden Girls Online

Emily Cooper – Emily in Paris

Emily is easily one of the most annoying characters on the air, and yet, like a bad rash, Emily in Paris persists.

But that’s also what begrudgingly makes us appreciate the character so much. She’s often a walking, talking stereotype of American ignorance, brashness, and entitlement wrapped up in a bubbly package. But she knows who and what she is and how she affects people, and she carries on anyway.

If she can win a person over, she’ll find a way to do so, and her plucky persona and inability to stay down and out even when she should sit down, zip it, take things in, and assess are what make the series so interesting.

She’s bold and smiles in the face of Parisian snobbery, never even considering being anything other than herself.

Watch Emily in Paris Online

Michael Scott – The Office

On The Office, Michael is selfish, self-absorbed, and lacks social and self-awareness.

He’s often narcissistic, and no one sticks his foot in his mouth better. He spends much of the series struggling with these traits and trying to get outside them.

But he cares enough about his colleagues and makes some effort to right things, so his flaws, political incorrectness, and insensitivity work out.

Watch The Office Online

Maggie Bell – FBI

Maggie always takes risks and takes a walk on the dark side of things on FBI.

But she’s so incredibly stubborn that it often gets frustrating.

She always sticks her ground, is opinionated, rarely holds back, and is reckless, making her a genuinely stressful person to watch on cases.

But so many of Maggie’s most frustrating traits make her a great agent, loyal partner, and solid friend, and leaning into these traits rather than straying away from them works for the character.

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Parker – Leverage/Leverage Redemption

There are very few characters like Parker, especially women, making her Leverage‘s breath of fresh air.

Parker has nothing that resembles a filter. She is brutally honest and always speaks her mind while simultaneously displaying a whimsical and childlike innocence.

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She’s whipsmart in an untraditional way, fierce, loyal, and badass. In two different series, she learned how to come to grips with who she is as a person and truly thrive within that.

Parker’s journey towards embracing who and what she is and making everyone around her and the world a better place is one of Leverage’s most lasting impacts.

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Quigley Smitty – The Rookie

Smitty is such a staple on The Rookie that it would be difficult to envision the series without him.

He’s an opportunistic and supremely lazy officer who doesn’t do much unless it’s self-serving and seemingly is riding out the gig until he can retire. On paper, he should be a truly loathsome character as he rarely lifts a finger.

But when he does, he’s shockingly badass and possesses a self-awareness that makes you appreciate rather than resent him. With Smitty, you almost always know who and what you’ll get; something is comforting about that.

He doesn’t mince any words about what he will and won’t do, and he doesn’t feel he has anything to prove, and you have to respect that!

Watch The Rookie Online

Will Trent – Will Trent

Will is constantly evolving as a character.

He battles various issues, from his dyslexia and OCD to his lack of social awareness and inability to get along with others easily.

He seems stuck in his ways, but with time and effort, he comes to grips with who he is and accepts it while making meaningful improvements along the way that enhance his life and those around him.

Of all the characters in Will Trent, he’s one of the most real, grounded, and unapologetic, and also one of the most inspiring.

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Kitty Song Covey – XO, Kitty

Kitty is such an endearing character, which is one of many reasons Netflix created XO, Kitty for her after the success of the To All the Boys movie franchise.

But Kitty is certainly a character with her fair share of issues, many of which are the catalyst behind her landing in South Korea in the first place.

Kitty is incredibly impulsive, in case moving halfway across the world didn’t already reach that natural conclusion. She is also naive about love and what her true love story should be like possessing some childlike, fairytale idealism far from reality.

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Like many young people coming into their own, she’s often selfish and absorbed, at times lacking insight and awareness about those around her.

But even with all of these flaws, she’s an endearing enough character because she’s genuine about working her way through them and becoming a better person, as well as genuinely figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life.

Watch XO, Kitty Online

Louis Litt – Suits

By now, we all know that Suits has a treasure trove of fascinating and flawed characters who stayed true to themselves and stood in all they were.

But one of the most unexpectedly compelling from the bunch was Louis Litt. He was quick to anger, jealous, often whiny, lacked self-confidence, and desperate.

Louis was also devoted and loyal to those who mattered, smart, and adaptable. He wore his flaws on his sleeve, and despite the occasional moment of being treated like more antagonist and nuisance than ally at various points in the series, his multifaceted portrayal makes him such a great character.

Watch XO, Kitty Online

Somehow, falling somewhere between being an outcast and a mascot.

There are some of our favorite television characters who embrace their flaws, and now, we want to hear about some of yours.

Who would you place on this list? Sound off below!

The post Unapologetically Real: TV Characters Who Embrace Their Flaws appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Can you think of any other way to wrap up the most inconsistent season of Accused than a bizarre, seemingly futuristic case about murder and sex robots?!

It’s absolutely, unquestionably the most ridiculous case we’ve ever had on this series yet, but that aside, it was at least bizarre enough to be weirdly entertaining.

That’s more than can be said for some of the humdrum installments of the season.

With Accused Season 2 Episode 8, the series broadened its timeline. They expanded into the future with cases because the whole situation with Humanix feels like something meant to be in the not-so-distant future.

We don’t currently live in a world where humanoid robots are so mainstream that they’ve taken over job positions like food servers and personal assistants. And that was the case during this hour.

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So, with “Megan’s Story,” Accused takes a massive leap with this approach; frankly, I don’t know how to feel about it. But given the nature of the season at large, at least I can give them points for creativity.

Megan wasn’t a flat character but was positively loathsome, selfish, self-absorbed, ambitious, jealous, self-serving, and manipulative. She was nothing short of a complicated woman with layers, and the hour didn’t hesitate to put her worst traits on full display.

The more we saw of this woman, the less likely one wanted to root for her, and that’s something that Accused doesn’t often do as it likes to make the people on trial sympathetic more often than not.

It was refreshing to see the series deviate from the norm by building up the story and adding context to complicate the situation and resulting crime.

Megan was simply an awful person, and something was gratifying about that, even if it bumped up against the occasionally unsatisfying tendency to vilify female characters for their audaciousness, ambition, and possession of all society typically praises in men.

Thematically, the hour took a forward approach in exploring things like big corporations in tech, not entirely unlike Accused Season 2 Episode 3, while also tackling artificial intelligence and its takeover.

Megan was the head of a music company where it seemed AI was completely taking over the music scene, something that’s quickly becoming a reality and a grating and frustrating thought.

We’ve naturally been weighing the pros and cons of artificial intelligence and how it can be a useful tool in our lives versus a blight on how we live, pursue our jobs, or do anything else.

“Megan’s Story” touches upon that as we immediately see the conflict between Megan and John over the nature of her company and how she finds success.

John, as an artist and musician, values creativity and originality and what art brings to the world, something that gets completely lost through the use of AI.

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John’s music died out, and he resented Megan for not doing enough to fight for it or him, instead chasing after the very thing that was killing the industry in the first place: AI.

It’s enough to make your skin crawl when you think about an entire music industry running on music compiled and created by artificial intelligence instead of actual humans.

Yet Megan was ecstatic about these developments and seemingly had the entire industry on lock, resulting in her success as a music mogul alongside John’s old friend and bandmate.

John and Megan’s relationship was tense before she pushed it over the edge by introducing a sex robot into their lives. Megan’s self-absorption prevented her from noticing it.

Megan was a narcissist, always blinded by her ambition, always striving for the next big thing, new milestones, and accomplishments. Meanwhile, John was like a kept husband withering away on a vine.

Their marriage was doomed well before Eve came into the picture, and it would’ve dissolved quickly whether she was there or not. Eve was simply a catalyst for something much worse and a real tragedy.

It was jaw-dropping that Megan thought getting her husband a sex robot to essentially delegate her “wifely duties” of sex would be the answer to all of their prayers.

Of course, she would be jealous when she had to see this in action or when her husband connected to a tailor-made robot to appease him in all the ways he desired.

No one can compete with a robot programmed to suit all of a person’s needs, so she set her own self up to fall painfully short with a husband who was already halfway out of the door in the first place.

John was lonely in his marriage, and he found all the support and gratification that he needed via this sex robot, falling in love with it and finding true happiness in a way he hadn’t in quite some time.

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By that point, nothing Megan could have done would make up for the years she spent neglecting her husband, disregarding and invalidating him in favor of her own needs and desires.

Even her choosing to implant the embryos they saved so that she could finally have the kids that he had been wanting from her for a lifetime was totally self-serving and not about him.

It took Megan’s come-to-Jesus moment to decide that it was best for her to jump into this next big decision.

It didn’t bode well and merely highlighted their issues in the first place when she didn’t talk to him about this new choice and instead went to get the embryos implanted as “a surprise.”

Who does that? If she couldn’t even sit down and have a proper conversation with her husband, who was already on the brink of divorcing her, would they ever be a good couple or decent parents?

Once again, Megan made a unilateral decision that affected them without consulting him and expecting him to go along with the ordeal.

Except this time, he did not, doubling down on wanting a divorce so that he could be with Eve.

And that was laughable, like something pulled from Lars and the Real Girl, where he truly believed that he’d be genuinely happy and in a healthy relationship with something that wasn’t even real.

There was barely enough time to unpack how John’s solution to the years of dealing with a strong-willed, ambitious woman who emasculated him was to seek a relationship with a gorgeous robot incapable of individual thought who was programmed to love all his interests and serve all his needs.

Naturally, there’s this deep, inherent sexism in that, but the installment is such a fast-paced, bizarre one that there’s little room for that to settle in. We don’t need the show to handhold us through some of this, so it’s fine in the end.

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It’s a pity that John could feel so torn down after living in Megan’s shadow for so long that he ultimately gives up on even considering a real woman capable of her own thoughts who could challenge him.

The infidelity angle of it all was unique because Megan greenlit it, so it wasn’t cheating, and Eve wasn’t real in the first place, though that didn’t matter in the end.

The moral conundrum in all of that, while not a unique premise, was interesting enough.

But the hour consistently showed us from beginning to end that Megan is a manipulative, self-serving woman who always gets what she wants.

She talked her sister, whom she was never close to, into jeopardizing her job and study to give John a sex doll.

Megan constantly manipulated John, and then when he finally had enough and wanted to leave her, she killed him in a fit of hurt and rage as an emotional reaction to what happened and then blamed it on pregnancy hormones.

She also blamed it on Eve, knowing full well that a robot wouldn’t be held to account, and she manipulated her sister yet again to cover for her.

Megan was ruinous, not hesitating to manipulate her sister into throwing her entire career away, tanking a full study, and destroying progress with AI, all to cover her tracks.

She succeeded in all of that, too, with an acquittal for her husband’s death, a belly-full of twins she suddenly desires, and her sister under her thumb.

Megan was one of the series’s most diabolical and loathsome characters, which made things interesting.

As far as a finale goes, it’s not the strongest finish, and the series fully leans into a death yet again.

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It’ll be interesting to figure out if there’s a future for Accused Season 3 and what that could possibly look like after this shockingly weak one. Was the first season just a one-off success?

Can the series right the ship and find its footing and rhythm again? How many stories can they tell with this formatting without feeling redundant?

These are all questions I never gave much thought to heading into the season, but I’m ending it thinking about them.

It mostly feels like Accused has gone out with a whimper, albeit with this one, it was a salacious bit of sci-fi bizarreness that added some oomph to the preceding “Eugene’s Story.”

And I don’t know what to do with that. How about you?

Over to you, Accused Fanatics.

How do you feel about this unusual episode closing out the season?

What were your overall thoughts on the season? Do you think Accused has earned a renewal?

Let’s hear your thoughts below.

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The post From Whimper to Weird: A Weak Accused Season 2 Ends with Sex Robots & Bizarre Murder appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Is anyone else having a difficult time connecting with most cases this season?

Here, Ken Jeong does some solid dramatic work, given that most people are accustomed to him in a comedic fashion. But it isn’t enough to make a compelling or interesting episode.

But that’s been the pattern this season, hasn’t it? I’ve noted before that it seems like every other installment has sparks of what made Accused Season 1 so intriguing to viewers and luring us back for more.

And then the other episodes fall so flat that, at best, you go through the motions of watching dutifully, and at worst, you don’t care.

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I don’t know the deal with the series or how it could have improved or done anything differently to keep viewers captivated. I only know that it’s been one of the most inconsistent seasons of television I’ve witnessed in some time.

“Eugene’s Story” was okay. It was mostly boring, with a thin script that didn’t inspire much interest or provide any twists or turns to hook us at any point in the hour.

It was great to see Jamie Chung, who is typically a delight in most of her works, but here, she simply couldn’t bring Grace to life onscreen, perhaps because of how thinly the character was written.

And sadly, I found Chung’s performance uncharacteristically wooden and underwhelming. We needn’t get into the lack of chemistry between Chung and Jeong here.

I can only imagine that the difficulty of portraying Grace as a reformed, broken soul wracked with guilt so much that it interfered with her happy life and marriage doesn’t translate well at all.

Instead, this results in a seemingly imbalanced relationship where Eugene seems devoted to Grace, but Grace is such a flat character that nothing is convincing about her life, motivations, or whatever feelings she shows.

The troublesome Rex with a laughable marker tattoo of Texas sketched across his neck is so one-note that there’s nothing to grasp onto, good, bad, ugly, or complex.

He’s just there, filling in the slot of a villain and nothing more. And it’s sad because one of Accused‘s greatest successes was its ability to have a collection of the most unexpected and talented actors portraying these intriguing characters who can tell a full-faceted and captivating story in 45 minutes or less.

Again, I don’t know where Accused is going wrong this season, as the actors are certainly there. The season bolstered Felicity Huffman and Cobie Smulders. We’ve had stage, theater legends, and comedians sinking their teeth into dramatic roles and pulling it off.

The cast and talent are there, but everything else has been so hit or miss this season that you don’t know what you’re even getting from one installment to the next.

In the words of my wonderfully precocious, round-eyed, and earnest toddler nephew, “Wha happen?”

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Yes, Accused, what happened?! Inquiring minds want to know? What’s not clicking, and is this simply one of those byproducts of the strikes and fast turnaround with production?

I don’t really know. It’s a pity, though, as the last thing I want to do is heavily criticize one of the most delightful anthological series I’ve experienced. But here we are.

Back to Eugene. What can we say about him? He was a devout Christian who found meaning and purpose in his church community and his lifestyle as a jeweler working alongside his father-in-law.

Eugene thought he had a perfect life and was doing everything in his power to live as God intended, as a good person who conveniently swindled people into purchasing engagement rings beyond their means, but more so did it because he believed in love and all that good stuff.

He was a man who tried to live by turning the other cheek, which often had him appearing weak to the obnoxious and racist dog walker who didn’t clean up his dog’s poop and made fun of Eugene’s eyes.

Eugene was devoted to Grace, who seemed to be his entire world. And, yeah, we know there was some darkness in him, as he implied that he, too, had a past.

We also saw how his first flashes of anger seemed dangerous. Carrying around his father-in-law’s gun in his back pocket was a bit off, considering he didn’t always have a valid reason.

It genuinely did seem like he contemplated threatening that jerk before “leading with kindness.” But that’s the thing about being human; it’s not about your first thoughts and instincts but more so your actual actions in the end.

Eugene mostly had himself together; his weak spot was Grace.

Suspecting that she was cheating on him was a big turning point for him, but after confronting her and hearing about her past with Rex, he realized he was the real villain and the one causing harm.

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Then, he devoted his attention to making Rex pay to save Grace because Eugene was intensely happy, devoted, stable, and seemingly perfect.

For someone as flawed as Grace, with her past, it’s understandable that she concluded that maybe she wasn’t worthy of Eugene or that if he knew all the deep, dark details about her past, he wouldn’t love her anymore.

Rex was a horrible part of her past that she could put away for a while, but once Rex got out of prison, it all came rushing back.

Eugene’s idealism and positivity established high standards and expectations, whether he intended them or not, which was at the core of this installment and Eugene’s relationship with Grace.

In that sense, they touched on many of the notes you’d expect from an hour with a heavy enough theme on religion and Christianity: Sinners can be redeemed, God and Jesus forgive.

Grace was a flawed woman with a past, but she was worthy of forgiveness and love, and Eugene could give that to her.

But he couldn’t extend forgiveness to Rex. Instead, he was ruled by vengeance and other human instincts that make us flawed and constantly at the mercy of seeking prayer and forgiveness for the Big Guy.

In many ways, I wish they’d delved a bit more into the religious aspect instead of lightly touching on things as a backdrop. It felt forced and underbaked, perfunctory, if you will.

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But then so much of this installment had that overall vibe, as, aside from Jeong’s intriguing enough break from comedy, very little was engaging about the hour.

The second season also spends a great deal of time with those on trial for some form of death, and I wish they’d switched things up a bit more.

Eugene is going away for felony murder, his actions resulting in the death of the woman he loved, and while tragic because of the outcome and his love for her, very little about how things played out made me ponder much of anything about the justice system and the complexities of humanity or care.

And I hate that.

But those are my thoughts on the matter, and maybe I’m too pessimistic about the hour, so I’d love to turn things over to you.

Accused Fanatics, what were your thoughts on this case and the overall season thus far?

Sound off below.

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The post Accused Season 2 Episode 7 Review: “Eugene’s Story” is a Penultimate Whimper appeared first on TV Fanatic.

And it seems 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 9 was intent on wrapping up the case of Gabriel Reyes’ murder and finally elaborating on Judd’s drinking issue.

Also, we can anticipate where Owen will find himself by the end of the series.

When you have a series like this coming to a close in a mostly unexpected way, what results is a bunch of storytelling that can seem sporadic with the sole purpose of getting us to the finish line of completion.

And “Fall From Grace” was one of those installments where it felt like they had that sticking point in their minds that they needed some of these storylines to wrap up or place characters on specific paths.

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The entire hour focused on Carlos and resolving the murder case that has hung over the whole season thus far after Gabriel’s shocking death in the 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 4 finale.

The rest of the hour gave us some insight into where Owen would land by the end of the series.

Owen’s return to NYC is inevitable, so while he’s taking a pitstop to assist Judd and get his best friend in top shape so he can take his rightful place as Captain of the 126, we already know he’ll be in the Big Apple in no time.

The series certainly never shies away from stroking the hell out of Owen’s ego, so yes, it was a bit nauseating to hear how amazing, perfect, and spectacular he was and how much of a folk hero he is to at least two generations of nepo firefighters from his old unit.

Historically, Owen is that firefighter who was at 9/11 and saved many lives, losing all of his friends in the process. It’s so ingrained in his character that it feels natural for the series to come full circle with this.

Instead of facing the consequences or bad reception after taking a stand for Tommy and embarrassing the mayor during 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 8, Owen got the opportunity of a lifetime to be fire chief in NYC.

It’s huge news, and the series geared him up for the further ascension of the ladder in his field and another chance for all to hail him as a hero, fix things, and make everything around him better.

His work at the 126, on top of his reputation from his time in NYC, made him the first choice for basically all boroughs when people listed who they wanted to lead them into the next stage of firefighting in NYC.

And there’s nothing Owen loves more than being in high demand and need and having the chance to play hero further.

Initially, he couldn’t fathom leaving everyone behind. However, as he spoke to a late friend’s child and heard about all the other firefighter kids pursuing the same calling, Owen found the inspiration to return home.

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New York City and this opportunity to return to his roots are calling to him, and he wanted to answer that call well before he could vocalize it to Judd.

But the hour here harkens back to 9-1-1: Lone Star’s series premiere in terms of why Owen came to Austin in the first place and why his position always felt temporary.

Of all the predictable outcomes for this series, the most obvious one is that Judd eventually succeeds Owen.

Judd was always supposed to lead the 126. However, this is also where this entire storyline of making Judd a probie feels so silly.

Even though we know Judd should take over in Owen’s absence and that the series has perfectly set it up, we must ignore how utterly stupid it is to have him go from Lieutenant to Probie to Captain… “because plot.”

Frankly, it’s a bit frustrating that a position that Judd has more than earned all this time can’t come naturally without this detour into Owen “saving” Judd first before he can leave.

We can already guess that even though Owen declined the offer he clearly wanted, the position will probably be open for him again whenever he changes his mind and Judd gets on track.

Now, Owen is the noble Captain and friend who sacrifices his job and the opportunity of a lifetime to assist firefighters in need further so he can stay in Austin and help his best friend through his drinking problem.

On the one hand, it’s always great to see the real brotherhood between Judd and Owen. They’ve truly been there for one another throughout the entire series, through many ups and downs.

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And I don’t want to detract from that because it’s been a great bond. But it also feels like another one of those stories that caters to Owen in a way that can sometimes be offputting.

Judd’s current state is heartbreaking but not at all surprising. We’ve always known that Grace is the center of Judd’s world, and he’s lost without her grounding him.

I mean, we’re talking about a man whose origin story with his wife consisted of him literally living for her and being willing to die with her and kill for her, too.

Judd, before Grace, was a man with suicide ideation and little to live for, and at any prospect of losing her, he has constantly been ready to scorch the earth and die in the process.

We saw all that during 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2 Episode 9 and onward.

We’ve all known that Judd has been putting up a facade and isn’t handling Grace’s absence well at all, which is why it has felt so odd that he’s been so distant from so many people.

The others haven’t seemed to figure out how far he was descending into dark places and drinking.

Once again, there was little they could do with Grace Ryder’s exit from the series and no satisfying way to overcome this, so sadly, this storyline is just a rough byproduct of an unfortunate situation with no wins.

It just still doesn’t feel real or plausible that Grace would up and leave her codependent husband, who can’t breathe without her and their three-year-old child by themselves for an undetermined amount of time and with no consistent communication to take care of other kids around the world.

A better option would’ve been for Grace to constantly be offscreen, attend school, and get a degree to pursue social work.

Now, Judd could get the position he was always meant to have.

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He has to go through some AA meetings to get his drinking under control under Owen’s watchful and experienced eye as a man who knows what it’s like to care about someone with addiction issues.

Owen felt like he had to go where people needed him more, and now, it seems Judd needs him more.

Another issue with this installment was how detached Tarlos are as a unit.

It’s one of those things that’s hard to wrap one’s head around, and the season has tasked them with these hardships that are meant to test them as a couple without fleshing them out enough to feel worth it.

Unsurprisingly, this whole issue with Jonah is playing out exactly as one would’ve imagined, and in one of those annoying ways that always seems to center those who want children instead of those who don’t.

We all knew it wasn’t a matter of if Carlos would come around to having kids or adopting Jonah but rather when he’d eventually cave into this without much thought, conversation, or any real space given to his feelings or stance.

In the end, it would always be one of those things where he kowtowed to T.K. and agreed to adopt Jonah, right? The entire situation was orchestrated to where he had no choice but to give in to the idea.

Why? Because HE would’ve looked like the asshole if he didn’t, given the circumstances.

It didn’t matter that he still wasn’t ready, wasn’t in the mental or emotional headspace for it, or their lives and work schedules currently aren’t conducive to having a child.

It’s Jonah, T.K.’s little brother; they’re the only family; T.K. was adamant about it and willing to give up his marriage over it, his husband’s thoughts be damned, so this is what it is.

I’m not a fan of this storyline for the reasons I’ve already discussed. But on top of everything, there wasn’t even space to flesh this out properly, allow this couple to communicate healthily, or be fair to both.

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We literally heard T.K. tell Tommy and Nancy that if he has to choose between his brother and his husband, he’s choosing his brother. He clearly put his foot down on something that the two barely discussed.

It left a bad taste in my mouth, not because I didn’t understand T.K.’s position but because there really wasn’t any space for Carlos. The certainty was that Carlos would always have to give in to T.K., most likely without him ever even knowing how much was at stake.

Is there much excitement about these two having a child together, like some fantasy “happily ever after” when they’ve never felt more distant and strained as a couple?

It felt odd that Carlos got a GSW, and we didn’t even get a scene referencing T.K. finding out about it at his bedside or around to show any modicum of care or concern.

But I’d love to know how you Tarlos ‘shippers feel about this pairing.

I’ve had the nagging feeling that there was something more to the chief, so learning that he was behind everything and framed Campbell instead wasn’t all that much of a shock.

Something always felt off about the chief, and by the time Carlos went to him and read him in on his findings about Campbell and other things, it became more apparent that something was amiss.

Campbell didn’t help his cause by going on the run and heading to Mexico.

I don’t foresee how he skates by out of all of this after fleeing from his home, engaging in a gunfight with his colleagues, and that whole incident of stabbing a man after clearing out safes and guns.

But I guess we can overlook all of that since we know that Campbell is a good guy now. He even saved Carlos’ life, and while his wife won’t be a fan of Carlos anytime soon, Campbell doesn’t have any hard feelings.

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Maybe I’ll get my 9-1-1: Lone Star Rangers spinoff after all, with a side of Tarlos taking care of Jonah. Even with this unrest, I’m still a fan of Carlos and Campbell’s chemistry.

The resolution of Gabriel’s murder felt a bit neat during this installment as if it needed to conclude right at that moment. However, I appreciate how Carlos still struggled in the end.

Solving the murder didn’t make things any better for him or fill the void that he has because his father is still gone. Silva’s emotional scene at the grave was great. And it neatly brings him around to becoming a father like his father, too. So, there’s that.

Over to you, Lone Star Fanatics.

Did you predict that Campbell was innocent after all?

How do you feel about the state of Tarlos this season? Did they handle the Tarlos and Jonah adoption storyline well?

How do you feel about Owen staying behind to help Judd through his drinking problem?

Let’s discuss it all below.

Watch 9-1-1: Lone Star Online

The post 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Episode 9 Reveals Gabriel’s Killer and Ties Up Loose Ends in Fall Finale appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Keeping up with the theme of up and down installments to Accused Season 2 Episode 6 was a reasonably solid installment compared to its predecessor, Accused Season 2 Episode 5.

There was a focus on mutual trauma and a shared sisterhood between two unlikely individuals.

You can never go wrong with Cobie Smulders, and her portrayal of Val felt tailor-made for an actress who is adept at portraying wonderfully complex, flawed, and occasional hot mess characters.

In this case, Val wasn’t so much a “hot mess” as she was a domestic abuse survivor and single mother who was trying to get by while taking care of her son and ensuring that he would never end up like his father.

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She spent much of the hour truly struggling, as it seemed like the system got stacked against her merely because her ex-husband was an emotional terrorist who not only managed to gaslight her but frequently charmed others so much that they didn’t see who he really was.

Trey was a classic narcissist, and he got off on the control and hurt Val however he could.

He didn’t take any responsibility for his actions, physically and emotionally abused her, and left her this emotionally damaged woman who turned to alcohol to cope and developed PTSD and Panic attacks.

And then he weaponized those things against her at will, including when he constantly threatened to take full custody of their child alongside his current wife, Jordan.

The groundwork for how evil a person he was preceded him, and viewers didn’t have to do much work to pick up exactly who and what Trey was and why Val suffered so much.

And the hour, predictably, saw her standing trial for his murder as the State of Oregon tried to build a case against the ex-wife who was mentally, financially, and emotionally “unstable” and had a motive to kill this man.

Trey’s death was an unexpected, awkward affair. One minute, we’re gritting our teeth over Val, sneaking back to his house to steal back the statue that belonged to her, and the next, she hears him hitting the floor.

Initially, it did seem like an accident, as if an electrical issue from his welding tool shocked him and stopped his heart.

Val didn’t kill him; she even did chest compressions on him and performed CPR for a few seconds before her Panic attack got the better of her. Flashbacks to all the ways he caused harm to her flooded her brain, and in no time, she was too busy trying to get out of there and cover her tracks instead of calling 911.

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Given Val’s experiences and her mental health, it was reasonable that she had the reaction that she did, even though most of us would love to think that we’d call the emergency number and report the death.

In fact, the hour does a subtle but decent enough job of capturing some of the responses to trauma. When we first saw Val bracing herself to speak to Trey and ask him about the sculpture, she was so cautious and meek.

He was explosive, cruel, and mean toward her, and Val had the classic “freeze” reaction in the face of his ire. She practically trembled under his gaze, and when Jordan appeared shortly after, she fled.

And when he died, Val fled again, rushing to track down Oliver and take him home with her, knowing that she didn’t want her son to be near the house when whomever discovered Trey’s body.

Jordan was a great contrast to Val and a solid embodiment of the “Fawn” trauma response in trauma survivors. To many, it may have even appeared that she was genuinely ignorant about her husband’s explosive temper and abusive ways.

But Jordan’s way of dealing with Trey involved submission, appeasement, and being as agreeable as possible, except, ironically, when pushing his buttons regarding Val.

Jordan may not have seemed like an ally to Val upfront, but she was quietly one behind closed doors. She advocated for her because it was the right thing to do, and she genuinely loved Oliver and respected Val.

She also understood Val more than she let on, which must’ve come as a shock (pardon the pun) to Val when she spent much of the time intimidated by Jordan and Oliver’s relationship, resenting Jordan for “having it all together,” and generally being put off by the existence of this woman.

For Val, Jordan seemed to make her feel inadequate, and something specifically wrong with HER caused Trey to behave as he did.

She didn’t feel as though Jordan validated or supported her or had half the experiences that she did, and she bought into the picturesque lifestyle that Jordan and Trey seemed to have.

The irony of Val buying into the same facade that she put on when she was with Trey isn’t lost and speaks to how we tend to view abuse and how easily it can hide behind closed doors, even for those who know better.

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It’s part of what made the real cause of Trey’s death such a solid twist. We saw the flashbacks of how things played out, so we knew Val didn’t do it, but we also could understand how she wound up on trial.

It looked less like an accident when they caught her sneaking into his house and then leaving shortly after, and she didn’t do herself any favors by not calling 911.

We were so caught up in knowing that it wasn’t murder that it was shocking to learn that it actually was and that Jordan was the one who orchestrated the whole thing.

The hour seemed to fly by, but even with that in consideration, it was a shock that Jordan got up on the stand and confessed everything without counsel, making it clear that Val had no part in anything.

It was a hell of a way to tank the prosecution’s case and embarrass the guy when they probably could’ve gone over all that before stepping into the courtroom.

Although, in many ways, it worked out better that way, if Jordan had told the truth before the trial, it’s possible that they still would’ve pinned something on Val, and both women would be in jail.

Initially, it seemed like Jodan was there to be the final nail in Val’s coffin.

Still, once we started following other parts of the timeline, you could tell that she genuinely felt bad about Val and that she could never live with herself if Val went to prison for something she did.

Jordan was a murderer, yes, but a genuinely good person. I went into his hour fully prepared for Cobie Smulders to captivate me, yet Dina Shihabi emerged as the standout and most compelling character of the hour.

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We saw that Jordan was a woman on the edge, and as she outlined everything Trey did to her and how she executed his death after yet another beating, your heart went out to her.

She was sympathetic, even when we knew that her admission on the stand outlined something that operated outside of the scope of self-defense.

Much like Val, Jordan fell into the same habit of covering for Trey, and as a result, there was no physical evidence of his abuse. There were no records with the police, pictures of bruises, or anything else.

It’s not uncommon, sadly, which means that domestic violence survivors have the burden of trying to prove to everyone around them that this person poses a serious threat and is harmful.

But when you have someone with charm, power, and money like Trey, the outside world is simply another tool he can control and use to his advantage.

Both women loved Oliver so much that they were genuinely concerned about his well-being. Val feared her son had his father’s violent streak, and Jordan feared that Trey would hurt Oliver.

They were both protective moms trying to do what was best for Oliver, but they had different ways of doing that. Jordan’s method was permanent and more effective. She probably would’ve succeeded with it if Val didn’t show up at the house.

Val had to work on forgiving Jordan because not only did she kill the father of her child, but she was the reason that she was on trial for it. It was devastating because Val couldn’t process how Jordan could let things go on as long as she did.

But she came through in the end, and they were more alike than different. As she told Oliver, Jordan was family.

Understandably, Val wanted to do whatever she could to ensure that Jordan wouldn’t go to prison, too. However, that’s where the hour takes a turn that, while emotionally satisfying because we sympathize with these women, feels too unrealistic to work.

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Val threatening to lie on the stand and tank the case against Jordan by confessing and thus evoking a double jeopardy situation was absurd. And the fact that it actually worked was absolutely ridiculous.

It’s sad to say that the law very seldom works in favor of domestic violence survivors, something that Val wanted to point out. Having her play Double Jeopardy like some sort of Uno Reverse card felt like it undermined the point and poignancy of what the episode was exploring.

I’m not saying that these women and this family don’t deserve a happy ending, only that it’s not typically the reality.

Accused typically does such a decent job of addressing the system’s complexities and pitfalls that tying things up with this implausible, neat bow feels inauthentic to what we’ve known and expected from this series.

Nevertheless, I should be content that these two women found peace and freedom in this fictional realm and that it’s a hopeful sentiment for those seeing this who may be in similar positions.

Over to you, Accused Fanatics.

How did you feel about the murder twist?

Do you feel like the ending was unrealistic?

Let’s hear all your thoughts in the comments below!

Watch Accused Online

The post Justice Reimagined: Accused Season 2 Episode 6 Tackles Domestic Abuse with a Twist appeared first on TV Fanatic.

It has been a breath of fresh air, and now that we’ve officially hit the midseason mark, it’s time to review Chicago PD‘s midseason progress as we await the series’ return.

For the most part, Chicago PD has been a kickass season, but we’ll delve into some of the best, worst, and areas that need improvement.

Best Episode: “Blood Bleeds Blue” – Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 2

All the fiery discourse in our comment section would have given someone the impression that Ruzek appreciation doesn’t exist around these parts. But we will continue letting our body of work do all the talking instead. Shall I clarify that I’m joking?

Moving along, Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 2 was a pulse-pounding, relentless hour of Chicago PD that didn’t let up.

We’ve praised the camera work, cinematography, and more all season long. Chicago PD Season 12 keeps pushing its boundaries from a technical standpoint, resulting in an immersive experience that highlights the season’s artistry.

There hasn’t been an hour as intense as “Blood Bleeds Blue” in quite some time as we picked up right where the season premiere left off, with Ruzek under heavy fire and scrambling to get to his friend, partner, and tragically brief new detective Martel.

It felt like a callback or nod to previous seasons, this time, Chicago PD Season 1 Episode 1 when Jules’ death set off an action-packed premiere that lured viewers in.

As stated in the review, Paddy Flueger delivered one of his most remarkable performances of the series to date. One of the most intense and emotional scenes in the series in some time was Ruzek hopefully cradling Martel’s head, despite literal brain matter on his shirt, while he fended off more gunfire.

From there, the hour didn’t let up. We followed Ruzek and Intelligence in real-time as they tracked down who was responsible, with no resting until they completed their mission.

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The hour also introduced us to Kiana Cook, who paired beautifully with Ruzek and gave us a fresh new energy. The two seemingly transformed into action heroes in their quest to solve this case, facing firestorms, taking hits, and even getting hit by a car.

Without a doubt, the episode was the season’s best thus far. It highlighted the teamwork, brought all of the action, and had a real emotional weight that set the tone for the remainder of the season. It’s definitely one that’s worth a rewatch or eight!

Worst Episode: “Contrition” – Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 7

Was it the worst episode of the series? No, but compared to everything else we got this season, Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 7 was pretty mid.

Hence, the average rating. With much of the season truly being on point, “Contrition” was a bit of a letdown for a myriad of reasons.

For starters, Gloria Perez, who wasn’t exactly the most compelling character, returned. Her storyline with Torres was irksome the first time around.

The hour also relied too heavily on a series of contrivances to advance the plot, and there were too many of them to ignore or even enjoy.

There had to be a more organic way for Kiana to blow her cover rather than reciting verbatim something Torres had said about Gloria, giving us that cliffhanger without Burgess and Torres reading as OOC for putting Kiana at risk or any number of other things that had to fall into place to make the plot work.

Twelve seasons in, it’s not thrilling when we still have members on the team ignoring Voight’s signature motto for his squad, “Tell me the truth so I can lie for you.”

After everything the characters in this series have endured working with Intelligence, it’s unconvincing that they’d be abruptly gunshy about giving Voight a heads-up about a situation, particularly as it’s getting out of hand.

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The “sleeping with a CI” plot is unoriginal and a waste for Torres.

The chemistry between Torres and Gloria wasn’t really there or easy to buy into in the first place. It never felt like the audience understood why these two souls felt so connected or “saw” each other in the first place.

Torres engaged in a series of senseless mishaps that the only motivation was “because of the plot,” like randomly appearing at Gloria’s place a year or so later to look like a bashful schoolboy, only for the team to go deep into investigating her and even placing Kiana undercover with her.

Torres’ naivete was frustrating. Meanwhile, they saddled Kim with knowing the truth and keeping it from Voight to protect Torres (and her career).

It didn’t ring true that a typically level-headed Kim wouldn’t realize when it had gone too far, and they needed to rope Voight in (even if they didn’t tell the others).

It was also a contrived and cringeworthy moment that reflected poorly when she pulled the plug, thus leaving everyone without ears on Kiana, whom Gloria made.

Because of how cautious everyone has been after Martel’s murder, it felt even more out of character that either Burgess or Torres would risk leaving Kiana “uncovered” like that, even if it was to cover themselves, mainly because it was futile anyway.

The hour had endearing moments; it delivered long-awaited Ruzwater scenes. Burzek had a cute unofficial date, and the team has been working incredibly well together. The series shows them onscreen as a unit more, but it was a frustrating hour, too.

Most Original Episode: “Water and Honey”- Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 5

It was a mesmerizing hour as the series played with new elements. The rain was damn near a paid actor all on its own during Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 5, and it added this atmospheric vibe that set the tone for a dark, twisty, and deliciously creepy case that was perfectly suited for Halloween.

It was the second time we spent time with Kiana Cook. If we didn’t know for certain that she was a perfect fit for the unit after her experience with Ruzek, the episode solidified it as she worked the case with Torres and Intelligence.

The chemistry between Benjamin Levy Aguilar and Toya Turner was fantastic during this hour. Their instant connection was intriguing and insightful for both, leaving one clamoring for more time exploring these two characters as a partnership.

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There was a distinct feeling of “passing the torch” that we got between the two that felt right and properly earned, as Dante was the one to invite Kiana into the unit. The two very much felt representative of the new or next era of Intelligence.

The case was fascinating, with guest star Vienna Weaver serving as the ultimate scene stealer with her feral performance as Jess Marks.

It not only expanded on the series’ more recent approach with darker cases, but it knocked it out of the park, felt creative and unique, and employed symbolism and intrigue.

Most Shocking Gamechanger – Martel’s Murder

It has felt like a long time since the stakes on Chicago PD have been high for many characters, even for newly introduced ones.

Maybe that’s why it was such a shock when the season premiere kicked into overdrive with Martel and Ruzek under fire and Martel lying dead in the street after someone shot her in the head.

The entire premiere did a wonderful job of showing us how well she had integrated into the unit. We learned that she and Ruzey had a history as they attended the Academy together.

Martel had just transferred to the unit after tragically losing her partner. She had easy chemistry with the other characters and a great wit. But life, or in this case, death, comes at you fast, and in the blink of an eye, Martel was gone.

It set the pace for the rest of the season as we continued to see how her death affected the other characters.

Most Unexpected Revelation – Chapman’s Love Confession to Voight

We’ve spent over ten years never really considering Voight as a romantic love interest to anyone because he’s married to the job and still grieves his late wife.

Nevertheless, it didn’t stop some from shipping him and Chapman, but even then, it never seemed like something the series would ever address.

But boy, were we wrong!

After Chapman puts her neck on the line to help Voight on Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 4, she lets him know that she has feelings for him; those feelings mean she’ll look after and protect him as she pleases, as those are her choices, and that he doesn’t get to dictate how she feels.

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And she did all of that before she sashayed out of his house and hopped a flight for a three-month assignment, leaving Voight and half of us speechless.

You have to love and respect a woman who knows who she is and what she wants and isn’t afraid to express it all!

Most Satisfying Development – Kim’s Promotion to Detective

It’s been long overdue for someone (or everyone) from Burzekwater to get a promotion, but as the storyline unfolded, it became evident that Kim Burgess was the best fit for the job.

Kim is a natural in this position, and it’s satisfying that we’ve had the opportunity to follow her trajectory from the often underestimated flight attendant turned patrol cop to this fierce, confident, even-keeled detective.

She’s taken to this promotion incredibly well, which Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 6 outlined well enough, and she brings a different vibe to what we’ve previously seen with the series’ other detectives.

It’s a real moment of growth for the character, personally and professionally, and this development is rife with potential as we slowly see her slide into being a trusted figure for Voight and her colleagues on the job.

Her mentorship role, which she takes on with Torres and Kiana, has been particularly refreshing.

Most Intriguing and Puzzling Development – Reid’s Secret Plotting

If the Fall finale didn’t do anything else, it left us theorizing about Reid’s motivations and how he discovered so much information about what’s happening in Intelligence.

This storyline pulls a bit from the usual ones where an authoritative figure poses a threat to Intelligence, so once again, they’re not reinventing the wheel here.

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However, Reid is such a conundrum that there’s more intrigue than anything else about this storyline and how it could play out for the remainder of the season.

Reid’s fixation on Burgess’ promotion and his seeming obsession with and desire to be Voight’s “friend” is alarming, and I’m eager to learn why!

Most Improved – Dante Torres/ Benjamin Levy Aguilar

No, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the whole Gloria plot, but setting that aside, Torres has grown a great deal as a character, and the season has given Aguilar so much to work with.

And in giving Aguilar the space to do what he does, he absolutely slays it every time!

Even when there are some plot points that I don’t care for, Aguilar’s performance is captivating.

Gloria’s death itself wasn’t gutwrenching, but Torres’ reaction to it certainly was, and his anxiety and pain were so palpable with every desperate plea and prayer throughout the midseason finale.

Aguilar has settled in well with this character enough to bring out all these nuances.

This season, Torres feels immersed in the unit well. Sure, he still wears his signature white T-shirt and jeans combo, which he often uses to distinguish himself from the others, but even that has had some irregularity.

Torres feels more open with the rest of the unit, and you genuinely see how much he cares about everyone, especially in the aftermath of Martel’s death, and his respect for everyone as well.

The series doubling down on who he is as a man of faith is wonderfully refreshing and authentic.

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This season, he’s had a chance to show off his range, as well as Torres’ evolution and layers as a character, from “Water and Honey” and “Contrition” to Chicago PD Season 12 Season 8, “Penance.”

We’ve also seen layers to his dynamics with other characters, notably Burgess, Kiana, and Voight.

Watching the character and actor evolve this season via these storylines has been genuinely enjoyable and satisfying.

Character Who Needs a B.O.L.O Issued- Atwater

Credit where it’s due, and it really is due; the season has done significantly better at balancing out the characters and making the team feel more cohesive.

The character-centric episodes work much better because they don’t typically bench the other characters or render them useless when they aren’t focused.

But if there’s anyone that has taken a hit worth noting, it’s Atwater. He hasn’t exactly had much focus since Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 3; a few more throwaway lines to let us know what he’s been up to or a quip or two during the episodes would help.

It’s still better than previous seasons, though. Thank goodness.

Best Plot Development – Kiana’s Addition

Kiana Cook is such a breath of fresh air for this series. She easily fits into the unit, and you’d swear she was there the whole time.

Her quick connections with Ruzek and Torres proved interesting. They instantly ingratiated her with the unit, especially since she was instrumental in finding Martel’s killer.

She’s an enigmatic but trustworthy character who brings a different energy to the team than we’ve seen before.

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We’re also seeing promising arcs, like the stronger camaraderie between her and Kim (a much-needed win for female friendships in this series).

Also, with the fallout from Torres’ error, it will be interesting to watch how the trust is rebuilt between her and him moving forward, which means the show could be compellingly and productively exploring inter-unit conflict.

Overall Thoughts

• The season started incredibly strong and wavered a bit toward the midseason, but it’s still such a satisfying season thus far that it feels as if it’s improved on some of the issues that used to plague the show before.
• The unit feels more cohesive and like a family than it has in years, and every episode delivers on some team moments and actually utilizes the characters in some capacity.
• The action has been out of this world. Nearly every episode has a great action sequence that feels ripped out of a scene from an action thriller.
• Voight’s strong leadership presence this season really ties together many of the episodes and the unit as a whole.
• Even though Trudy Platt still doesn’t have a significant storyline, she’s been far more prevalent this season, which is a relief. There’s no such thing as too much Amy Morton!

• Some of the humor and lighter moments we used to see in earlier seasons have reappeared again, which offers more levity to the series since it has taken darker turns, particularly with cases.
• Martel’s death has a subtle influence on the characters throughout the season, but sometimes, it’s too subtle, and I’d love for the series to touch on that loss a bit more, especially for someone like Ruzek, who knew her well before and witnessed it.
• I remain fascinated and impressed with the editing, direction, and camera work this season. Hats off to all.
• The season feels really tapped into the actual characters, which is a great place for it to be 12 seasons in.
• They’ve been nailing all the dynamic exploration this season, so we get great team moments and mix and match well with all the characters, which keeps things interesting.

Here’s our assessment of the first half of the season. It’s been a strong one thus far, averaging a B+ from us, but now it’s your turn to share your thoughts below.

What are your favorite episodes, storylines, characters? Do you have a least favorite? What does the season need to improve, and what improvements have you enjoyed most?! Let’s hear it below.

Chicago PD returns on January 8 at 10/9c on NBC.

Watch Chicago PD Online

The post Chicago PD Season 12 Midseason Report Card: Thrills, Emotional Kills, Exciting Promotions & Kickass Additions! appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Fresh off the news that Netflix’s hit teen mystery A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is renewed, we have more exciting news about another hit show on the streamer making a return.

Kitty Covey is back, and we’re headed back to Seoul soon! We also have some first-look images to accompany a synopsis of what to expect from XO, Kitty Season 2!

What is XO, Kitty About?

Unless you were somehow under a rock, you might be privy to the To All the Boys movie adaptations from Jenny Han’s wonderful young adult series.

But fret not. If you did happen to miss them, then you should head to Netflix and stream the heck out of them.

They’re some of the strongest book-to-film adaptations for a young adult series out there, and they gifted us with Lana Candor’s fantastic performance as Lara Jean Covey and heartthrob Noah Centineo as seemingly perfect Peter Kavinsky.

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Fresh off the success of the films, a television series spinoff resulted in XO, Kitty following the scene-stealing, wholly endearing younger sister of Lara Jean, Katherine “Kitty” Covey, as she embarked on her own journey of getting in touch with her Korean roots, finding love, friendship, and learning life lessons.

Anna Cathcart is an utterly charming lead as Kitty Song Covey. We follow her to KISS, a prestigious school in Seoul where her late mother attended, as she tries to reconnect with her past and heritage and gets entangled in a love story with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae.

Kitty’s journey in a new school in a new country provides a similar and wonderfully comedic but heartwarming “fish out of water” vibe as Netflix’s hit Emily in Paris (albeit with infinitely more charm).

Is XO, Kitty Based on a Book Adaptation?

Nope!

Kitty is a character from Han’s To All the Boys I Loved Before book trilogy, but the spinoff is an original piece unrelated to the book series and tells totally original stories.

Where Did XO, Kitty Season 1 Leave Off?

When we last saw Kitty, she was single after breaking things off with her boyfriend, Dae.

If you’re familiar with Kitty, you know how huge that was for her. She was a young woman in love with the idea of love and fully committed to the “One True Love” trope, believing that Dae was all there was for her.

It was a mark of growth for Kitty to decide that maybe there’s more to life and love than she realized. It was particularly revealing for Kitty as she had feelings not only for Dae but also for effortlessly cool, “bad-boy” frenemy Ming-Ho, KISS’ “It Girl,” and rival-turned-crush Yuri.

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After a turbulent semester at KISS that had her looking into her family history and uncovering secrets and revelations about some of those closest to her while in Seoul, Kitty boarded a plane and headed back home after getting expelled for the semester.

But the finale left fans squealing and pondering the possibilities when we saw that she was sitting beside enemy-to friend-to possible new romantic interest, Min-ho.

What Will XO, Kitty Season 2 Be About?

Netflix teases that Kitty will return to the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS) for her second semester.

She has a new plan: not to meddle so much in the love lives of those around her or their lives overall.

Kitty also intends to enjoy her single life, maybe engage in some casual dating, and avoid drama at all costs.

That sounds fake, am I right? Kitty could never! But kudos to her for giving it a go, though we’ll have to see how long that lasts.

Of course, when a letter about her mother’s past comes to her attention, Kitty will wind up on yet another investigative journey to unpack its origins and the mystery around it. And we all know that Kitty on a mission is a force to be reckoned with, so it’s worth buckling up for that alone.

Kitty is better equipped to navigate Seoul in search of the truth, but this new adventure may also bring about new faces and places, which is exciting.

She’ll also learn new things that may test the bonds of various relationships and friendships, and she’ll realize that life, romance, family, and friends are all more complicated than she could’ve ever known.

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Who Will Star in XO, Kitty Season 2?

Naturally, the talented Anna Cathcart will be reprising her role as Belove Kitty Covey.

First season cast Minyeong Choi (Dae), Gia Kim (Yuri), Sang Heon Lee (Min Ho), Anthony Keyvan (Q), Peter Thurnwald (Alex), and Regan Aliyah (Juliana), Peter Thurnwald (Alex), Jocelyn Shelfo (Madison), and Michael K. Lee (Professor Lee) will also be returning for the sophomore season.

In addition to most of the first season’s cast, we can expect some new faces.

Audrey Huynh will play Stella, Sasha Bhasin will join season two as Praveena, Joshua Lee will star as Jin, and Philippe Lee will play Mr. Moon.

When Will XO, Kitty Season 2 Premiere?

The new season of XO, Kitty, is returning sooner than we would’ve imagined. Or maybe not, since technically, it’s been about a year and a half since the series first hit Netflix. Perhaps we should blame the wait on the strikes.

Nevertheless, fans can tune into the series on January 16.

How Many Episodes Are in XO, Kitty Season 2?

While there’s no official confirmation of the number of episodes or their titles, the first season had ten episodes, and we can expect the second season to have the same.

We also have yet to determine whether there will be a split season. Still, given that Netflix hasn’t released more than one drop date, it strongly suggests that we can binge the entire season to our heart’s content on January 16 rather than waiting a month between “two parts.”

Freaking, thank you!

Is There a Trailer for XO, Kitty Season 2?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a trailer for the new season just yet, but we’ll update this post whenever Netflix releases one.

However, this post includes first-look photos of the season and a fun announcement from the cast sharing the premiere date!

So check that out!

We’ll keep this post updated as new information comes up about the upcoming season.

Over to you, XO, Kitty Fanatics.

Are you excited about the upcoming season?

What are you looking forward to most?

Hit the comments below!

The post XO, Kitty Season 2: First Look, Premiere Date, and Everything We Know appeared first on TV Fanatic.

We’re closing out the first half of the season with an emotional and adrenaline-pumping hour that has certainly set up something epic when the series returns.

There are various points to discuss after Found Season 2 Episode 8, including a very heavy arc that explored suicide/ suicide ideation, so bear warning, but that ending was chilling as we await a showdown between Gabi and Sir!

Found Delivers a Captivating Look at Mental Health Via Trauma in Alice Case

The hour was another strong summation of the intersection between traumatic experiences and mental health issues, from the case involving Olivia/Alice to Margaret’s increasingly fragile state that almost heartbreakingly led to her demise.

Their case was a captivating one, and it made your heart ache for Alice, who was suffering from a psychotic break.

Sadly, we’ve seen far too often that the police aren’t the best equipped to handle these things, so it was a good thing that Stevie went to M&A. Of course, it didn’t stop Trent from being actively involved in the whole investigation and working alongside Gabi.

Trent was blessedly tolerable during this installment and felt like the character who genuinely cares about these people and feels stuck between a rock and a hard place here.

As a result, there were no feelings of frustration toward Heavy Boots this time, which is progress, but I still can’t help but wonder how they’ll swing favor for this character after a rough first half of the season.

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Gabi’s Connection to Alice and Many Twists and Turns Produced One of the Season’s Most Compelling Cases

In the end, Gabi could relate to poor Alice, whose grief over losing her father sparked a mental break in part because of her schizophrenia and resulted in her living a nomadic life with her daughter and fearing that some mysterious “Kane” figure was after her.

It was all connected to her father’s diplomatic work in the 80s, and she clung to his mission as if it was her own, carrying this like it was a connection to him.

The case resulted in some twists and turns, like the self-defense instructor beating Trent’s ass and feeling he was entitled to female attention. Ugh, men.

Even the tension between Gabi and Trent didn’t stop her from bulldozing into interrogation rooms (after she banished him to the waiting room at M&A) or running a press conference that undermined his. But the result was satisfying, with one of the more emotional scenes being Gabi gently talking to Alice and encouraging her to get help as she cried over her father’s grave.

I also loved the visual shot of the three generations of women hugging each other in the hospital bed. I’m a sucker for those types of moments, and that was a snapshot one.

M&A Has Been Emotionally Broken, and the Case Served as a Reminder of That

But if anything, the case was just another prime example of how much pain and hurt can rule us as humans. M&A has been unquestionably broken, and everyone is incredibly fragile.

We’ve spent much of the first half of the season touching upon it in some capacity for many of the characters, but this hour certainly addressed all of it for M&A’s leading players.

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Lacey is still carrying around her most recent abduction by Sir, and her mind has been prone to wander as the fear and anxiety wells up in her. She often fights back against whatever urges she may have to disappear into herself after what happened.

She was quietly an anxious mess for much of the hour while simultaneously doing her best to ensure that other people were okay.

The issue with Margaret was particularly triggering for her, and you could see her grappling with that the entire hour while trying to keep up with the case.

As one of the few characters who sees past Gabi’s facade, her earnest approach to ensuring that Gabi knows not everything is her fault and she can’t shoulder the blame for all is admirable. But now that we have so much of their history filled in for us via those flashbacks, you cherish those flashes of sincerity, concern, and sisterhood even more.

Lacey knows Gabi isn’t okay, which worries her in ways she has yet to express fully.

Zeke’s Newly Defiant Streak is Worrisome and Leaves His Future Up in the Air

Meanwhile, Zeke’s defiance about the technological use and potentially facing jail time is so blatantly his attempt to maintain every ounce of control he feels he has when his agoraphobia otherwise can make him feel powerless and like a sitting duck.

He’s thrown his complete all into doubling down on his usefulness with not just the case but figuring out Sir as an entity and subsequently saving Gabi and all of them in the process. He’s taken to this mission like a superhero, so hyper-focused on it that he’s willfully blind to how it could jeopardize him in the long run.

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Zeke hears Trent and Gabi’s concerns and warnings but doesn’t seem to care. He puts just enough faith in his powerful father to get him out of whatever trouble and stubbornly sticks to his guns anyway.

Meanwhile, “stronger” characters like Dhan are cracking at the seams, and with each passing episode, it’s abundantly clear how codependent he is on M&A and Ethan.

The friction between the team has been slowly killing him because it disrupted the safe space he created within this family. Everyone at M&A — they are his everything, and while it sounds endearing and cute to express that in some capacity, it goes far deeper than that for Dhan.

If they’re all literally his reason for existing, it’s scary and unsettling and speaks to how deep his scars are and how much work he still has to do emotionally.

The Cracks in Dhan’s Walls and Raw Vulnerability Leave Us Craving More Insight into M&A’s Most Enigmatic Member

Dhan’s painful, vulnerable admission to Margaret at the shoreline puts his protector role into even deeper focus.

When Dhan endangers himself to protect others, it isn’t just his job. He’ll literally put his life on the line and die for them, and in the case of Margaret, die WITH them because he can admit that he cannot continue existing without any of them.

Yes, there’s something profoundly deep and layered in his relationship with Gabi (one I still desperately need Found to explore someday) and how he genuinely views her as his solace, savior, and grounding force.

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But knowing that he could express a willingness to cease to exist because he cannot live his life without M&A and Ethan gives us more insight into why Dhan has gone as hard as he has with defending Gabi and not wanting her to go to prison.

He’s her biggest advocate in the group because he needs the entire group intact for his world and life to be complete. If he loses any of them, we’d see a version of Dhan we haven’t seen before.

It was also interesting that Dhan views his M&A family and Ethan in equal measure — these individuals he has latched onto and brought him out of the darkest period of his life.

Harkening back to the tension between him and Ethan during Found Season 2 Episode 7, it feels like Ethan would like Dhan to choose or even prioritize, but there literally is no doing that for Dhan, meaning they’ll always be at some impasse.

Kelli Williams Delivers Indelibable Performance that Breaks Our Hearts

Of course, Margaret struggled the most, which has been a theme for much of the season.

Kelli Williams is EVERYTHING. Frankly, she always is, but in this particular installment, she delivered one of her most gutwrenching performances as Margaret.

We knew she wasn’t okay, more so than usual, from the moment she appeared onscreen.

She had terrible memories of Jamie, presumably that final moment with him, in which she expressed frustration and exasperation over his high energy and sent him to the other side of the row to give her a moment of peace.

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Margaret was visibly shaken and spilled tea on herself. She was still utterly disheveled, which had been a consistent pattern for her all season.

As a side note, I appreciate all the little nuances of showing how the characters have been doing right down to their visible appearance. Margaret’s physical presentation has declined over the season, which is related to the decline in her mental and emotional state.

We’ve seen her with disheveled clothes, messy hair, and looking tired and rundown.

Ironically, Gabi’s physical presentation has been pristine to neurotic levels, harkening back to their time in captivity with a fastidious Sir, but also, Gabi’s conscientious efforts to exercise control over her wardrobe and appearance and give the illusion that she has it all together when she doesn’t.

We’ve also seen this with Dhan, Lacey, and Zeke to varying degrees.

But back to Margaret, who reached such a breaking point that she abandoned lunch with her daughter and instead opted to return to a place that brought her happiness as she contemplated death by suicide.

She’s just in so much pain, and it’s increased tenfold. While she’s been spending a great deal of time angry at Gabi and allowing that to fuel her, it still hasn’t taken away the pain and guilt she has over Jamie’s disappearance.

His birthday was that thing that finally tipped her over the edge, and it seemed she was trying to drown out the thoughts and emotions.

Margaret’s Breaking Point May Pave the Way to Jamie’s Return

M&A has been running on pure adrenaline for so long that the others hadn’t even realized the date and how it impacted Margaret.

The flashback was tough to watch because you knew what would happen and how those final moments would be something Margaret would use to torture herself for years. However, every parent has been in that position of having little patience when feeling overwhelmed by their children.

It’s challenging when there are personality clashes, and you have to adapt to the needs and expectations of a young child.

Fortunately, Margaret got help. Dhan’s plea seemed to strike a chord, and maybe the guilt of being responsible for another person’s deterioration or death was enough pressure for her to reconsider.

She’ll get her much-needed therapy and have the support of others, but this show certainly takes us through the hills and valleys of trauma and recovery.

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Interestingly, this set things up for finding Jamie. They’ve laid the groundwork all season for it, and then they dangled that Sir offer out there. But now, Sir has confirmation about his intentions after his run-in with Zeke.

Based on how it played out, I fully thought that scene was a nightmare. But part of the issue was that it made no sense whatsoever that Zeke would open the door without checking the surveillance cameras first. He had Stevie inside with him, so that was a reckless move on his part.

Sir’s New Plan is a Curveball for All the Characters

Nevertheless, it was fascinating to see how he exuded the fighting spirit to the point that he physically stepped outside without even realizing it. Sir is right that Zeke’s hatred toward Sir exceeds the grip his agoraphobia has on him.

So, Sir’s twisted plan consists of him helping and “fixing” all of M&A before he takes Gabi because he knows she’ll never be at peace with him if she’s worried about her team.

It’s a different solution than him taking out the entire team, so that’s progress!

And the idea that this raging narcissist believes that he and he alone can magically “fix” people to make him better is laughable. If he did so, Sir would plan to “cure” Zeke’s agoraphobia and find Jamie for Margaret.

But what does “fixing” the others look like? What can Sir offer or do in his twisted mind to make Gabi not worry about Lacey, whom he hates? What’s his solution for Heavy Boots, whom he despises? The issue would be tanking the case built against Gabi, but that likely serves Sir more than anything else.

Sir hasn’t been able to figure out Dhan well, seems intimidated by him, and is avoidant, so what exactly is his plan there? Right now, all we know is that Dhan couldn’t survive losing any of them, including Gabi. So, how would that work?

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If anything, it’s enough there to make you wonder about the theories and speculation of Ethan’s involvement in all of this. Many Found Fanatics believe Ethan is working with Sir, and we’ve had some breadcrumbs here and there that could support this.

But he’s the best pathway to Dhan and insight into him, so that’s another interesting angle.

The Flashbacks Have Become Invaluable and Highly Appreciated Context for the Present

The flashbacks were stellar as always, and I’ll never stop singing the praises of Jasmine Washington and A’Zaria Carter. Washington does so much with Bella without having to utter a word and grips you with her emotional performances.

I held my breath when Bella realized that Sir was calling her mother and asking about Gabi. She frantically worked to tell her mother as much as she could.

Of course, one of the most gripping moments of the hour was Gina gifting young Gabi those brass knuckles.

Gina: The counter to being afraid is being prepared; it’s fighting back.

Gina’s line touched the soul in its empowerment because it wasn’t the placating and soothing one expects from a parent during trying times. At some point, no encouraging, soothing words can do justice to a situation far beyond that.

Gina’s sitdown with Gabi went beyond a protective maternal figure; it was a reckoning moment when two women had a heart-to-heart on an equal level.

It means so much more knowing that Gina is the one who gave Gabi those brass knuckles and how significant they have been in all this time.

Gina has easily become one of my favorite characters of the season.

Found’s Midseason Finale Sets Up and Epic Gabi/Sir Showdown, Leaving Us Clamoring for More!

Found didn’t share the exact words in that letter, but whatever they were, Gabi returned to her old high school with brass knuckles in hand in preparation for a confrontation.

I couldn’t tell if the spooky setting represented another dream or simply keeping up with the theme of “haunted” that set the tone. Nevertheless, Sir’s voice on the speaker made me shudder.

We know his plan, and he wants Gabi. So will he stick to the plan of “fixing” M&A first, or is he all-in on seizing the opportunity to take Gabi now, or better yet, have her willingly go with him?

She’s already expressed that she’s fine accepting punishment for her actions, and we’ve seen where she’s semi-capable of turning herself over to Sir if it has the desired results.

Despite her fear, she has that fight in her, and she’s preparing for something, but what?

Sadly, we will have to wait until January to find out!

Over to you, Found Fanatics.

What are your predictions for the Gabi/Sir showdown?

How shocking was Margaret’s near-death decision?

Did the revelation of Dhan’s dependence on the rest of the team surprise you?

How are you feeling about the season thus far? Let’s hear it all below!

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans, press 1 when calling.

Crisis Text Line: Text TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7.

Watch Found Online

The post Found’s Midseason Finale Hits Emotional Crescendo, Leaving Us Clamoring for More appeared first on TV Fanatic.