Episodes
I'll admit that I've already finished Season 2 of Episodes. Much like Downton Abbey, it airs in the UK months before it comes to the States, and so it's easy to find links online. And so even though I only started watching the season last weekend, I'm already done. The reason for this is that it's SO EFFING GOOD. Literally everything about this show is fantastic, but especially the actors. Matt LeBlanc continues to be great at playing a parody of himself, and Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan are always brilliant as the transplanted British writers/producers, but this season gave more of the spotlight to the supporting actors, and Kathleen Rose Perkins shines like a goddamn star. Her portrayal of Carol is at once pathetic and empowering; infuriating and endearing; hilarious and sad. She's taken the character from the one-note Rigid Studio Executive and turned Carol into someone we root for and whose motives we come to understand. And she's just SO fucking funny. John Pankow as the studio head Merc Lapidus is a comedic gem, and Genevieve O'Reilly as his blind wife Jamie plays her role with a quiet subtlety that'll make you laugh out loud (as two characters are fighting and chaos erupts amongst the cast, she just keeps yelling, "What's going on???!!!"). Daisy Haggard as the erstwhile, clueless exec with the weird moaning voice steals every single scene she's in and Joseph May as Andy Button is the type of character who would eat a popsicle made of shit if you told him it was fudge - while smiling. I honestly can't pick a favorite character because I love them all, and I didn't mean to brush past Greig and Mangan because they carry the show, and both actors' abilities to transform from glib to gutwrenching in the blink of an eye is astounding. They grab you by the heartballs, and just won't let go.
Anyway, not to give anything away, but the season finale is one of my favorite moments of comedy of the entire year. There're only nine episodes, so get watching and seriously, don't miss out on this show.
