Monday Musings: Last Call For Maisel, The Wines of ‘The Last of Us’, Ted Lasso’s Dim Debut

Hello Monday, My Old Friend 🍷

Did everyone have a great weekend? I spent the weekend doing a little wine tasting on the Central Coast, but was able to fit in some streaming here and there. Here’s what I’m musing over this rainy Monday in California…

Ted Lasso: Season 3 Premiere episode ⚽️

I do my absolute best to not have unreasonably high expectations when experiencing anything, even the first episode of the third and final season of Ted Lasso streaming on Apple TV+ - however it was a bit lukewarm for me. It’s hard not to love each and every character in the cast, even Nathan who took a turn to the dark side, but I felt there were a few script-to-scene decisions that didn’t get executed to the Lasso-quality we’ve come to love. There are characters who are moving forward like Keeley Jones who has a new office with new coworkers in a new environment, so the fun dynamics of the whole Ted Lasso day-to-day operations seem a little lopsided, but hopefully the writers are using these separations of characters (also Keeley and Roy) as a setup to bring everyone back together by the end of the season. Many of the jokes and humorous scenes also fell flat much of the episode, however it still has the same amount of heart 💜. The scene in the sewer also seemed force with little payoff, however it’s just the first episode and I remember not too long ago not being able to get into Ted Lasso until the third episode and it ended up being one of my favorite shows streaming. I’m really looking forward to this week’s episode on Wednesday.

Last Call 👗 : The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 5 Official Trailer Just Released! 

This is another one of my favorite series on television. The writing is so clever, quick, witty and the characters are just as adorable as the cotton-candy 1960s set design and costumes. The fifth and final season will stream April 14 on Amazon Prime. 

I Watched ‘The Episode’ 😢

I’m pretty behind on The Last of Us streaming on HBO Max, but I finally watched the episode that everyone is talking about. The love story between Bill and Frank in the middle of an apocalyptic pandemic in episode 3 was like watching a short story on its own, separate from the rest of the series, but in the end the writers did a great job of making Bill and Frank’s story relevant to Joel and Ellie’s story as well as end the episode as if it was one beautifully, sad written poem. If you watched it there was no way you could not see the wine that was been poured throughout this episode. Some pretty good choices for living life as Doomsday preppers. Here’s what Bill and Frank were drinking. 

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 🍷

Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon🍷

Happy Birthday Murray Bartlett 🥳

Since we’re talking about Frank, played by Murray Bartlett we should also wish him a happy birthday! He turns 52 today. He also played the unhinged hotel manager of The White Lotus in Season 1 which you can also stream on HBO Max. Other series you can find him on included Welcome to Chippendales on Hulu and Physical on Apple TV+. 

Great Writing Recognition - Perry Mason on HBO Max

Okay, here’s another show I’m just getting introduced to. I’ve never even watched the original Perry Mason, a detective series that starred Raymond Burr, but the reimagined series on HBO Max starring Matthew Rhys and John Lithgow is pretty solid. I saw the first episode and had to point out some really great writing. So much goes into a scene and especially in a more visual platform for writing like television or film you want to show the audience instead of tell them about it. When we are first introduced to Perry Mason’s home life he picks up a package by his mailbox. It has a “return to sender” stamp on it, the name is clearly Mason on the package so you assume it is family, and the brown paper that the package is wrapped in is slightly torn revealing a bit of green holly, as if it was meant to be a Christmas gift. There wasn’t one bit of dialogue in that scene, but you got from Perry Mason picking up the package that a Christmas gift he had sent was returned from someone close to him (a child? an estranged wife?) so you know there is some tension in his family and thus a reason why he could be living alone once he proceeds to enter his empty house. I love when great writing happens and that small scene with the returned package really did it for me. It reminded me of the shortest story ever told that was attributed to Ernest Hemingway — “For sale, baby shoes, never worn”. Six words and it says so much.  

Streaming Today and Tomorrow…

March 20 - The Larkins: Season 2 on Acorn TV, Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 7 (Netflix)

March 21 - Nope on Amazon Prime, We Lost Our Human (Netflix) 

Wine To Sip On This Week - Paper Street, 2019 Zinfandel by J. Dusi  

One sip will catch the nose with a bit of butterscotch and toasted creme brûlée. It hits your palate with a brush of silk and then bursts open the layers of wild dark berries. Yum!