OK, so here we are; final episode of the season. I’ve been writing my reviews slowly, but I actually blew through the entire season in just four days; that was less than an hour a day of viewing; two twenty-six to twenty-eight minute episodes a day is doable, even for somebody with my busy schedule. This is genuinely a case of a season you could knock out in a Saturday. I like these shorter seasons. It makes the shows able to be better paced and of all around better quality I feel and also the barrier to entry isn’t so high. Would I have been as quick to start this series if the first season had been twenty-two episodes; doubtful.
Anyway, on to the episode, which is another really good one. In this one, Selina has travelled to a political event in order to give a candidate an endorsement, but by the time she gets there, her approval rating is low enough that he decides he doesn’t want an endorsement. Throughout the episode, he flip-flops on whether she’ll be a help or a harm if she endorses him. The centerpiece of the episode is a hilarious scene where Selina breaks down and cries in front of him; the awkwardness of the scene is absolutely epic and so is her anger, once she recovers. Dan Bakkhedahl is the candidate and he’s fantastic. However, her staff decides that it will humanize her if she cries on camera, so they arrange for an interviewer to push all of her emotional buttons so she’ll tear up. This whole plot-line is really funny. Meanwhile, Dan’s political finagling has come back to bite him; to the degree that the show has a cliffhanger, it’s about an investigation into the backroom dealings on the Clean Jobs bill. Reid Scott has some nice moments; it’s nice to see the consummately poised Dan actually feeling threatened and acting stressed and scared. All in all, I thought this was a really good episode and a nice ending to the first season. Recommended. 3 ½ stars.
The first season as a whole? Well, I figured out what I thought I’d give it, which was a solid 3 stars, as in a conditional recommendation, recommended if it looks interesting for whatever reason. And then I just did a straight average of my episode ratings and it came out at 3 stars as well. So, I guess the first season gets a solid 3 stars. Certainly smart, certainly funny, certainly incredibly well acted and directed. Not going to set the world on fire, but a show that you’ll enjoy and enjoy quite a bit if you’re into political comedy or Louis-Dreyfus or some other element of the show. Second season blu-rays are already in hand, though I still need to finish the extra features on season one and I may watch some other stuff in between, I don’t know. But I’m looking forward to season two; I hear the show gets better, which would be great. Anyway, there you go.
tl;dr – very funny season finale juggles some nice plot threads and possibly sets up a nice tension for season two. 3 ½ stars. Season one as a whole is a consistently solid comedy with plenty of laughs and genuinely wonderful performances; a few missteps are to be expected and none of them are crippling and the show snaps right back from even the lamest bits to being really good again. Plus, it’s less than four hours and energetic enough to be a quick, entertaining watch. 3 stars.