Three Series Finales in One Week.

 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry and Succession all had their series finales this week. I think it is unprecedented for there to be three series finales in one week.  There will be some spoilers, so I will start with the one that had no surprise ending.

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – I was late to coming to this series. The last two seasons had flash forwards so we know how the story ends before the final show. I found that made the end a bit anti-climactic. It is the story of a female standup comic coming of age and to stage in the 1950s on the Upper West Side in NYC.  It is supposedly (very) loosely based on the life of Joan Rivers. The story of the challenges of a female entering a male dominated career were clear. It is also a reminder of how much has changed in our society since the 1950s. Although tragic, I liked how the story of Lenny Bruce was woven into the story. The question of compromising your integrity vs. becoming successful is a fine line. He knew he would be arrested for his act (words we take for granted today) and did it anyway. I found the comedy hilarious. The many different aspects of 2^nd generation immigrant Jewish families were represented in the show. I found myself literally laughing out loud numerous times throughout the series recognizing similar traits of people growing up. The season that was focused on their time in the Catskills was nostalgic for me as well. I thought the Joel story line could have been fleshed out a bit more at the end, but that is just being picky. Joel was a true redemption storyline.  I wonder if others who did not grow up Jewish, or at least culturally Jewish found it as funny or meaningful?

Succession – A show about a wealthy family running a Fox News type communication company. The opening show of season one, the Father Logan Roy (played brilliantly by Brian Cox) becomes seriously ill and the question of who will succeed him in the company is the plot of the entire series. Three of his four children are vying for the role. Almost every character who is a member of the family and featured employees of the company are fairly despicable in one way or another. (with the exception of a couple of minor characters who were sympathetic, but did nothing) The three children are not competent, but entitled. The tragedy is for the most part, until the end they believe they were competent.  It is a well worn tale of a parent manipulating their children, but ultimately not preparing them. Before Logan Roy dies he says to his children, “I love you, but you are not serious people” In the last show, one of the children realizes the absurdity of it and says “we are nothing” I liked that the main character Logan Roy dies towards the beginning of the final season in the middle of a deal to sell the company. Throughout the four seasons, I took time off from watching it because I have to say, it was obvious that the children were nothing and it just got boring after a while watching them posture and flail. Still in the end, I thought it was a fitting ending for the arc of the show.  I did like that Unitarians were represented (even if stereotypically) by Nan Pierce who was the CEO of a rival company Logan was trying to purchase.

 Barry -  The series is about Barry, a vet who comes back from Iraq with PTSD and is manipulated by a father figure to become an assassin. He decides to take acting classes to help him better understand himself. I LOVED Henry Winkler as the acting teacher. The rest of the plot is too hard to describe with many madcap antics and plot twists. There is a lot of violence. I thought the ending was artistic and well done. There are some key messages told. All actors are narcissistic. Henry Winkler’s characters strays from what he knows is right because of fame. And when the son of Sally Reed (Barry’s love interest) tells her he loves her, she just asks, was the play (she directed) good. Totally oblivious. The final message of the series is there is no redemption in this life. Redemption only comes in a sanitized version of our life that is told after we die. Not sure if I agree, but poignant nevertheless.  Although sometimes over the top, overall it was surprisingly good, even sometimes a fun show for such a dark topic.  

Audio Book Review - Pachinko

 I just finished listening to the audio recording of Pachinko this week. It is just over 18 hours (or 512 pages if you are reading). I saw Apple TV has a show on this and I wanted to read/listen to the book before I watched it. 

The book is the story of 4 generations of a Korean family that emigrated to Japan in the early 1900s after Japan had invaded and taken over Korea. It started off a little slow for me, but then captivated me. I admit there was one time I was so enmeshed in the book that at the point when one of the characters dies, I was absolutely shaken, and had to stop listening for a bit. That rarely happens to me. It was interesting to see how different individuals dealt differently with being an unwelcome immigrant. It was also interesting to learn a bit about how different Japanese characters  reacted and interreacted both positively and negatively with Korean immigrants. After WWII the question of whether to return to Korea or not was a question and thus the question of how we define home is raised up. The book depicts how class and professions often identify us in society.  It shows how the consequences of actions have repercussions beyond just ourselves and beyond just our generation. It is easy to see how actions beyond our control impact us. It raises the question about what is love, and what is family and how different people come away with different answers. 

I tend to like sweeping dramas showing cross cultural currents with history as a backdrop. This book provided all that for me and more.