Outer Banks -- I first watched this because a teenage friend of mine was obsessed with it and had a crush on one of the characters. It's now in its third season. It is framed as a mystery in the vein of Robert Louis Stevenson -- a legendary missing treasure, tropical locations, danger and adventure, albeit at a Scooby-Doo level of sophistication. It's also got a Romeo+Juliet vibe with a romance between teens of opposing tribes. There is the obligatory class warfare/social justice angle where mean, rich, white people are the bad guys. And since it's a teen drama, the grown ups just don't understand. Derivative is the word I'm looking for, from start to finish.
Actually, it's probably targeted at tweens more than teens. As portrayed the teens are more like a child's image of a teen. They are all very pretty. They are devoted to their circle of friends above everything else. It is, in fact, the only moral code they follow. They are stupid and short sighted like children, but somehow something always comes along to fix things.
It's probably harmless to these kid viewers. The stupidity and self-destructive morality might have a bad effect, but I think by time they are fifteen or so, they'll understand it's just a fantasy. As for me, it quickly became background noise. As my curiosity waned, I could watch it and browse the web or play a game simultaneously.
For an adult it's just a time waster. For a kid, it will be a shared experience with some of their friends and something to trigger their nostalgia when they see a social media post about it in forty years.
Perry Mason -- Season two remains a strong drama and well plotted mystery. The acting stands out. It is both period correct but with flights of anachronistic wokeness as is deemed to be Required By Modern Audiences. The actors are top notch. The plotting is solid, and having written a whodunit, I know that is not an easy thing. It is also an adult show, not just because there are bits of nudity, but because there is no constant, glaring exposition, and there is no attempt to pander to immature tastes. I would call it a high-end police procedural, miles ahead of any variation of Law and Order.
Star Trek: Picard -- I have not paid attention to any of the new Star Trek shows (Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds) because given my understanding of the current state of TV I figured they would profoundly suck. And, by all accounts, they have. Then suddenly, a cynical personage no less than The Critical Drinker declared Season 3 of Picard to be a triumph so I had to check it out.
Now, I am on record as declaring Deep Space Nine as the only Trek that is re-watchable as a drama. Oh, they all had their fun moments, a few episodes here and there that were entertaining or even high quality, but for the most part they are un-rewatchable, at times outright inane. As such, Picard is no Deep Space Nine. But it is a top quality take in The Next Generation journey, with bits of Voyager mixed in.
Here's the thing, at its heart it really is just a recycling of Star Trek tropes and old plotlines. But it is extremely well done recycling. The production quality and direction alone are vastly better than anything the series from years ago could generate. The actors are all old now, and God bless them for not trying to make them look young or fake, and frankly I think they are all better actors than they were. Patrick Stewart used to have to carry the show, now all the others are showing depth they didn't have before (or maybe I'm just in sympathy with their aged personas). Not only that, Todd Stashwick as Captain Shaw and Amanda Plummer as Vedic give pitch perfect performances.
What you have here is good old Star Trek. No socio-political agenda, no gender swapped characters. Great drama it ain't, but it is quite entertaining. And, honestly, it is nice to see them all back together. Think of it as if it were a string of the best episodes of old Star Trek you ever saw.
And that's the place we are today. A good few episodes of Star Trek count as great TV these days. Alas.
