Fesiva Reviews: Rick and Morty Season 2 premiere

This post originally appeared in the July 31st edition of Festiva Magazine in The Monitor. You should check them out.

Image via Slightly Warped 

“Hey, why don’t we do an episode of ‘Rick and Morty’ where due to a disruption in time, multiple opposing timelines of the episode are created and are simultaneously shown on TV via up to 64 split screens?”

Oh, how I’d love to see the writers of Adult Swim’s ambitious comedy “Rick and Morty” make that pitch to producers in this animated comedy where everyone’s favorite mad scientist forces takes his young grandson through adventures across the galaxy.

The season two premiere “A Rickle in Time,” picks up immediately where season one ended, in which Rick froze time in order to clean up the mess from an epic intergalactic party he hosted last season while babysitting his grandkids, Morty and Summer. Hilariously enough, the effects of our characters unfreezing time leads to the previously mentioned timeline disruptions, because science is a fickle beast.

Eventually, the multiple timelines will result in time cops from the fourth dimension (who look like giant scrotums) going back in time to beat up Albert Einstein because “Rick and Morty” is ridiculous in the best way possible.

The time-splitting conflict is one of the most cleverly executed gags I’ve seen on TV. It surprised viewers with its unexpected arrival and grew to be progressively hilarious as the episodes went on without overstaying their welcome.

I haven’t even mentioned the “B” storyline, which has Rick’s daughter Beth desperately trying to use her horse surgery skills to save a wounded deer her husband struck with his car. It sounds dull compared to the main plot, but this subplot moves at a surprisingly manic pace that doesn’t weigh the episode down. We also learn the important lesson that Cold Stone Creamery employees will do anything, ANYTHING, for you if you tip them well enough.

Image via Screenrant

Besides the absurd humor the show is known for, “Rick and Morty” also has some heart to go with its crudeness. This is relevant in the episode’s climax, which sees one of the 64 Ricks willing to sacrifice himself to save one of the versions of his grandson from being stuck in his timeline forever.

Rick is a character who, let’s face it, should be among the most unlikable characters on TV. After all, the series’ pilot episode had him forcing his grandson to smuggle in space seeds through intergalactic customs by hiding them up his butt. And yet, the show often allows many opportunities for Rick to show a more humane side to him that makes him occasionally loveable, even when he’s telling his grandkids in this episode that he finds both of them to be equally annoying when they argue over which one of them Rick likes more.

Speaking of Summer and Morty, the episode introduces a conflict between them as we see the siblings get noticeably jealous over how each one of them is spending more time with Rick in his missions. For Summer, this represents a drastic change, considering how the series introduced her as a vain teenager who now has more of a personality. For Morty, this stresses out our already high-strung 14-year-old and I can already picture several scenarios where the rivalry between the two will lead to more inter-dimensional mayhem.

All in all, this is an exciting return to one of the most unique shows on air and I look forward to more.

"Rick and Morty" airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on Adult Swim.

FESTIVA REVIEWS: 'Jane the Virgin'

This post originally appeared in the March 20 issue of Festiva. You should check them out.

Image via zalukaj.tv

I’m going to try to keep this review as vague as possible, since "Jane the Virgin" is a series I believe you’ll be better off knowing as little as possible about to preserve your sense of discovery when tuning in.

Based on the Venezuelan telenovela of the same name, this delightful comedyis the most ridiculous show on the air and that’s a huge reason as to why it’s so wonderful.

This "Jane the Virgin" stars Golden-Globe winner Gina Rodriguez as our titular hero who accidentally gets artificially inseminated during a routine checkup.

The subversive series sees Jane’s unexpected pregnancy turn her life upside down with several storylines involving long-lost fathers, love triangles, scheming wives and a Czech crime lord. In other words, her life now resembles a state of mayhem as seen in the telenovelas she religiously watches with her family.

From the beginning of the pilot, "Jane" captivates viewers with its busy plot.

True to its telenovela roots, every episode moves at a fast pace that juggles a huge ensemble cast while burning through several storylines and featuring so many cliffhangers per commercial break you’re convinced every episode is a mid-season finale.

Admittedly, this is a hard show to pull off tone wise. It’s a mixture of comedy, drama, mystery and romance that revels in just how soapy it is. Every week, I worry that this show will derail into a mess. Somehow though, "Jane" has managed to avoid that and remains one of the most wonderfully endearing shows on air.

As the star of the show, Rodriguez is the glue that holds the entire thing together. Her heartfelt portrayal of Jane is reminiscent of Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope in the dearly departed comedy "Parks and Recreation." Like Leslie, Jane is a kind, dedicated and optimistic woman who is bursting with so much energy that you’ll want to be her BFF.

Because of Rodriguez’s lovely character and the show’s overall confident story line, "Jane the Virgin" manages to stay grounded in a state of fantastical realism that makes the absurd action onscreen come across as believable.

At the heart of the show is the love story presented onscreen. I’m not talking about the relationship between Jane and her detective boyfriend that opens the series, but the one between Jane, her mother and her grandmother. The bond that the three women have is a highlight of the series as the three of them support each other despite the generational gaps between them.

Image via youtube.com

Abuela, for example, is a Spanish-speaking, religious woman who hammered down the importance of virginity to Jane at a young age. Jane’s mother, Xiomara, serves as the poster mom for getting knocked up as a teenager and hopes Jane avoids her fate.

The back and forth the trio have is rich and filled with compassion toward one another. Their relationship is one of the rare, positive television depictions of family that reflects the strength of friendship between women that feels equally part tradition and — thanks to the delightfully absurd onscreen drama — weird.

I worry the show’s quick pace will result in "Jane the Virgin" overstaying its welcome within a few seasons. For now though, let’s celebrate that TV currently has a show as wonderful as "Jane the Virgin" that is such a joy to watch.

"Jane the Virgin" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on the CW. All previous episodes are available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

FESTIVA REVIEWS: 'Better Call Saul!'

This post originally appeared in the Feb. 20 issue of Festiva Magazine. You should check them out

image via AMC

Spin-offs are a tricky beast.

If watching television has taught us anything, it’s that for every Frasieror The Colbert Report, there’s usually a bad egg like Joey, That ’80s Show orNCIS: We’re Still on the air whatever.

For a spin-off to truly work, it needs to step out of the shadow of the TV show it preceded to be able to stand on its own while sharing a universe with it. In that regard, AMC’s new series Better Call Saul shows a lot of potential in succeeding.

Set as a prequel to the award-winning drama Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul follows our favorite sleazy criminal lawyer we once knew as Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), legal adviser to meth kingpin Walter White. However, in this dark comedy, Saul isn’t around — not yet at least.

The series opens in the long-ago era known as 2002 (as evidenced by a character repeatedly using the phrase “biznatch” in the second episode) and Odenkirk’s character still identifies himself by his birth name, Jimmy McGill.

Jimmy so far has virtually none of the flashiness he has when he will encounter Walter in about five years. His office is located in the boiler room of a strip mall nail salon and he can only afford to advertise on matchbooks instead of cheesy billboards and TV spots like when Walter first met him. We’re watching a frustrated and broke Saul Goodman and that’s far more interesting than it sounds.

Of course, the main reason why Better Call Saul works is because Odenkirk is so entertaining to watch. Odenkirk is literally in every single scene of the series and has a strong onscreen presence that pulls viewers in, making the scenes where he’s in court especially fun to watch.

Saul was always Breaking Bad’s comic relief and this spin-off takes advantage of Odenkirk’s sketch-comedy past through Jimmy’s display of flamboyant theatrics during the courtroom scenes. These scenes have none of the glamour that you usually see in popular crime shows, but they have a certain charm in them that’s bursting with energy.

The second hour of Better Call Saul ends with Jimmy receiving an intriguing proposition by a criminal to help him steal over a million dollars previously taken by local politicians. This serialized plotline hints that the show will double as a caper which sounds like fun.

Speaking of fun, the series so far has been loaded with several wonderfully grim moments of comedy. A dinner scene set after a tense standoff in the desert — the most suspenseful moment of the series so far — has Jimmy failing to go through his date as he’s distracted by someone loudly breaking bread. Thanks to the confident direction by Breaking Bad veteran director Michelle MacLaren, the tight editing and sound design in this scene makes the breaking of the bread sound like the gunshots Jimmy managed to escape from in the previous scene. It’s a wonderfully squirm-inducing moment as we watch Jimmy fidget during his meal.

It’s tiny scenes like this that ultimately show how Saul is a different beast than Breaking Bad — it’s filled with the back comedy the latter delved in but wasn’t particularly recognized for.

The personal stakes in the show may not be as great as being diagnosed with cancer, but that doesn’t mean viewers that are either not familiar with Breaking Bad or are fans of that show won’t get invested in this new series.

Better Call Saul is a humble series with no delusions of grandeur to imitate its predecessor, and that’s reason enough to celebrate.

Better Call Saul airs Mondays at 8 p.m. central on AMC.

FESTIVA REVIEWS: 'Broad City'

This post originally appeared in the Jan. 23 issue of Festiva. You should check them out.

I’ve yet to experience the magic that is New York City. The closest thing I have to visiting it is through the magic of TV and film.

Movies like the works of Woody Allen or sitcoms such as Friends and Seinfeld have me convinced that New York is some kind of hellhole filled with pathological narcissists that I’d rather stay away from. Comedy Central’s sitcom Broad City, however, has convinced me that all you need to survive this city is a really awesome friend.

After seeing the first season of this series pop up on several top 10 lists last year I decided to check out the pilot and ended up binge-watching the rest of the available episodes in one sitting.

Based on the Web series under the same name, Broad City follows best friends Abbi and Ilana — played by real life comediennes Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer portraying fictionalized versions of themselves — as they navigate life in the Big Apple, often through absurd and jaw-droppingly hilarious episodic adventures.

Ilana is the free-spirited woman in the duo, sometimes pushing Abbi into the wild misadventures they get into but always acting as her shoulder to lean on. As Abbi, Jacobson is supposed to play the “straight man,” the one person in the group who’s so responsible that she’s usually appalled by the other character’s behavior. Abbi however often proves herself to be just as wild and crazy as Ilana, which makes their relationship all the more special.

After a brilliant debut season bursting with confidence and enough gross-out humor that would even make some guys squirm, Broad City returns with a dementedly hilarious second season premiere that shows the girls are fully capable of keeping up with the manic energy of the first season.

Titled “In Heat,” the premiere has Abbi and Illana on a quest to find an air conditioner for Abbi’s apartment. This comes after a heat wave ruined her hot date with her boyfriend (Seth Rogen) who suffers an apparent heat stroke as the two have sex in her AC-less apartment.

Abbi’s and Ilana’s journey for an AC takes them from the oasis of Bed Bath & Beyond all the way to Ilana’s old college dorm, where she’s convinced she can claim the AC there as her own. What’s striking about the entire episode — and the series as a whole — is how despite the fact that the girls are always going through bizarre situations, the chemistry between the two feels so natural that the episodes end up being grounded in a sort of chaotic reality.  

Abbi and Ilana are the type of friends who rarely fight, always mutually hate the same people and casually talk out loud about sex tapes in adjoining dressing rooms at public places. Their relationship provides the show with a surprisingly strong amount of heart in a comedy that’s smarter than it looks.

Also, have I mentioned how insanely funny this show is? In the premiere’s stellar cold open that’s reminiscent of last summer’s sci-fi flick Snowpiercer, the girls are riding the subway and must move to the car at the back of the train. Their mini-adventures takes them to cars filled with couples overdoing it with their PDA, doppelgangers and a car occupied by a single turd.

It’s a tiny scene that shows that Broad City isn’t afraid to go there as it pushes our characters to insane comedic heights, but I’ll gladly join the girls in their adventures.

Season two of Broad City airs on Comedy Central Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. Season one is streaming on Amazon Prime and is available for purchase on DVD.