Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 393, in which I argue that debate performance has nothing to do with how a candidate actually performs as President.
See also:
Presumed Innocent 1.4 ended with a shocker: Rusty's DNA is found under Carolyn's fingernails. This is obvious proof that the two were fighting ...
Of course, if we read the book or saw the 1990 movie, Rusty's DNA under Carolyn's fingernails is entirely consistent with who the real killer is, definitely not Rusty. And since I have no idea how similar this Apple TV+ series and the 1990 movie will be, I'm keeping an open mind: the killer could be the 1990 killer, or Rusty, or someone else entirely.
The relationship between Rusty and Raymond, his lawyer, continues be strong, and Mya on the defense team is an excellent asset. Over on the prosecution side, Nico continues to be unflappable, but also not having 100% confidence in Tommy. I'd like to see more focus on Tommy's character. He actually seems to be doing a pretty good job, which makes me wonder why Nico seems so quick to disagree with him.
We also need to know more about Carolyn. What was Tommy's relationship with her in the office? What was Raymond's relationship with Carolyn -- he after all was her boss. Shouldn't there be more investigation of Carolyn's cases, and whether any of the people she prosecuted were now in a position to kill her?
I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this literally life-and-story, and saga of justice, unfolds.
See also Presumed Innocent 1.1-1.2: Presumed Excellent, And So Far Is ... 1.3: Sterling Performances
Biden tried to say decent, ethical things but delivered most of his words poorly in last night's Presidential debate; Trump spoke much more clearly but said vile things and lied just about every time he opened his mouth (lies which the CNN moderators failed to call out).
What are we to think about this?
I would say it's that debates shouldn't matter as much as they seem to. JFK looked better on TV than did Nixon, and a majority of people who saw the two on TV thought Kennedy won. A much smaller number of people heard the same debate on radio, and thought Nixon won. That event certainly demonstrated the importance of debates. But though JFK proved to be an excellent President, the fact that he won the debate was really no indication that JFK would do so well in office. The debates, in other words, were very valuable windows into the effects of media in politics, not indicators of the political character and acumen of the candidates.
It's plain logic that what a President does in office has nothing to do with the President's voice quality or appearance. FDR was in a wheelchair throughout his presidency. He connected to the American people in an age before television via his fireside chats on radios. Few people knew he was in a wheelchair. Most historians agree he was our very best President, getting the United States out of the Great Depression, and guiding us and our allies to victory in the Second World War.
I've spent my professional life as a professor of media and an author talking about the importance of televised debates, how candidates look and sound on television. JFK won the debate with Nixon because because by 1960 more than 90-percent of Americans had television in their homes. Reagan prevailed over Mondale by making a savvy joke about not making the younger age of his opponent an issue. Obama faltered in his first debate with Romney but came back strong in their second nationally televized conversation. But maybe it's time to focus on what debates really are: a 90-minute performance that has little to do with what the candidate did, is doing, or will do in office. The truth is that the skills needed to be an effective debater have nothing to do with the skills needed to be an effective President. Never did, never will. Maybe it's long since time that we recognized that.
Marshall McLuhan was the first to point out that JFK won the 1960 debates and then the election because he performed so well on television, in contrast to Nixon who was judged as winning the debates on their radio broadcasts that so few people listened to. McLuhan made this observation in Understanding Media (1964), whose breakthrough message was "the medium is the message". The view that Biden's poor performance in Thursday's debate means he's no longer fit to be President strikes me as an egregious case of mistaking the medium (the debate) for the message (Biden's been doing a superb job as President).
Or, to paraphrase Shelley, maybe it's the debate that failed last night, not Biden.
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Note added Friday, June 28th, afternoon: And Biden amply demonstrated his power to effectively communicate in a rip-roaring speech in North Carolina. Again, a debate is a unique mode of communication, which not only has nothing to do with Presidential decision-making and other Presidential activity, but not much in common with speech-making, interviews, and other kinds of communication, either.
Note added Saturday, June 29: The New York Times' editorial board called on Joe Biden to leave the race. They didn't say a word about Biden's speech in North Carolina. What are we to make about such an unprecedented call from the editors of what used to be known as the newspaper of record? I would say this is just more evidence of the decline of a once-great newspaper. See my What's Wrong with The New York Times for an example this past Fall of what I'm talking about.
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 392, in which I review Dark Matter 1.9 on Apple TV+.
Further places:
See also Deadline's interview with Blake Crouch
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
I said last week that the multitude of Jasons showing up in one world gave cinematic verite to the poster for the series. But that crucial scene near the end of 1.9, with all of those Jasons, marshalled by their leader to let our Jason -- Jason 1 -- have the life he deserved with Daniela and Charlie -- well, that scene epitomized the poster.
I also said last week that I didn't expect to see the happy ending that the ending of 1.8 was pointing to. And we did see Jason 1 and Daniela 1 and Charlie 1 in family bliss for part of 1.9, only to have that taken away from them by a few of the marauding Jasons. But Jason 2 saved them -- at least, I think that was Jason 2, I'm never 100% sure -- and got the crowd of Jasons to let the Jason 1 family go into a world where they could presumably have a very happy life.
That scene with the crowd of Jasons made me realize that I was watching not just a science fiction story but a horror story. Crowds have been a part of horror at least since the notorious town folk with their torches in Frankenstein. They weren't carrying torches in Dark Matter 1.9, and they were different versions of the same person, but they felt to me to have a kinship with those villagers in Frankenstein. Mary Shelley's and Blake Crouch's stories, after all, are both vivid testaments to the horror that uncontrolled science can bring. The Twilight Zone often focused on this field of dreams turned nightmares, too.
So, the Jason 1 family has a happy ending. And Jason 2 sees the error of his ways and redeems himself. But there are an infinity of stories in that crowd of Jasons, and in this, our offscreen reality, I envision a Canterbury Tales of Dark Matter stories spanning years.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
Let's start with the end. A plane with most of our crew traveling back in time to 2012. It -- of course -- encounters some extreme turbulence. Will they survive? Can they?
Well, let's put aside the point that it's highly unlikely that the series would kill off so many major characters in the third episode of the second season.
But, wait, why would it matter if so many players were killed in this plane? Wouldn't the time loop give them another chance to get the flight right, as it does with everything else?
Here's where we get to the nitty gritty. The folks on the plane are time-travelling -- trying to time travel -- outside of the inevitable, infuriating, but life-saving loop. So, if they're beyond the loop, and have already traveled a few years back in time, doesn't this mean that they're on their own?
The loop is really cool. Over and over again, a character or characters make a wrong choice, die as a result, only to come back and get it right. There was an excellent example of this in 2.3 when Archie and Zhang (a great couple) mistakenly think a finger is needed to open a digital lock, die as a result, but come back next time around with an eyeball, which works.
Time travel outside the loop has changed everything, and I'm looking forward to seeing how those characters on the plane outside the loop fare next week.
See also The Lazarus Project season 2.1: Shades of Gray ... 2.2: Shag in the Alley
And see also The Lazarus Project season 1: Time Travel Done Superbly Right
Criminal Minds is coming together nicely (or harrowingly, depending on how you look at it) as of episode 17.4 on Paramount Plus.
[Spoilers ahead ...]
Elias Voit now has a good reason to cooperate: his daughter is showing signs of becoming a serial killer, like her old man, and he wants the BAU to help her with their expertise. But the smile on his face at the end of the episode shows he's also happy about this for other, more nefarious reasons. I'm half-guesing he's hoping to turn his daughter into an asset.
Penelope is allowing Tyler to come back into the fold. Good. She still has feelings for him, and there's no point in struggling all season to keep them down. And, I don't know, I don't think Tyler did anything that terrible, but maybe that's just me.
It's good to see the crew's excursions now actually connecting to the Gold Star case, which happens just as the BAU realizes that Gold Star is not a person but a project. This of course puts Voit right back in the picture. In addition to being the serial killer Internet mastermind Sicarius, Voit is no doubt part of Gold Star, and maybe it's chief? That would be good reason for Voit's smile at the end.
One issue unaddressed in this episode are the fake porn photos of J.J. We'll no doubt see that center stage sooner or later, as Criminal Minds: Evolution continues its perilous journey this season.
See also Criminal Minds: Evolution 17.1-17-.2 The Elusive Profile ... 17.3: "BAU Gate"
And see also Criminal Minds: Evolution 16.1-16.4: Outstanding! ... 16.5: Assessment of What Could Have Happened at the End ... 16.6-16.8: Better Than Ever on Paramount Plus ... 16.9: Elias Voit and David Rossi ... 16.10: Gold Star
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 391, in which I review Dark Matter 1.8 on Apple TV+.
Further places:
I was struck by the sterling performance of just about every actor in Presumed Innocent 1.3 on Apple TV+.
[And here let me advise you not so much about spoilers, but that I saw the 1990s movie with Harrison Ford, and I'll try not to in any way indicate the ending of that, because I have no idea if this series will end the same way.]
Here are some of my favorite scenes in this episode:
Up until Dark Matter 1.8, we had a Jason -- Jason 1 -- visiting a variety of alternate realities. All of that flipped in 1.8, where we had an onslaught of different Jasons showing up at the worst possible times in World 1. That made for a crackling episode in which all hell broke loose. And now we finally can see the poster for the series fulfilled.
At first, it looked like Jason 1 killed Jason 2, or maybe versa. But we soon learned that the victim was Jason 3, or the first of a flood of Jasons, all of whom were at odds with Jason 1's understandable, transcendent desire to be back with his family -- i.e., the family that he knew, and who knew him.
Here let me just tip my hat to the bartender. He's a great science fictional character. He no longer questions or even seems to wonder about the proliferation of Jasons who show up in his bar. He just greets them, serves them, and takes them in all in stride.
We already know that all Jasons have a violent streak, and when competing with each other for Daniela 1 and Charlie 1, sheer violence quickly comes to the fore. Daniela is also willing to be deadly violent to save herself and Charlie from Jason 2, and she pushes him down the basement stairs.
This season could have ended right after that, with Jason 1 finally reunited with his family. But 1.8 is not the final episode this season -- there's one more -- and there's no way that Dark Matter could end with quite so happy an ending.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
That was my favorite part of The Lazarus Project 2.2, up on TNT in the USA this past Sunday -- Sarah grabbing George for an unexpected, quick shag in the alley.
It was fun to see -- even though it causes George more confusion -- because their love is the truest truth in this series. Sarah doesn't quite see that yet. She has something going on with Cormac (I agree with George that that's a strange name, though how I would I know I'm not from the UK), and is paired with Michael, whom she can't stand. But the way her face lit up before she started kissing George in the alley shows the way she really feels.
The Lazarus Project has all the explosive trappings of a hard science fiction story, which it most certainly is. But for me, what makes the series really unique are the similarities it has to The Time Traveler's Wife and even Outlander, two patently non-scientific time travel love stories. Romantic love is a key player in The Lazarus Project, as are parents and children.
And George figures in a key scene at the end of 2.2, in which Becky, last seen as a little girl put into a time machine sent back to 2012, presents herself to George as a young lady in the London underground in 2024. When George asks her how she got so old so quickly, she tells him she's time traveled, "do the arithmetic".
If The Lazarus Project has any problem, it's that it probably has too many moving pieces to put together or even make complete sense of. But that's time travel, "do the arithmetic," right?
See also The Lazarus Project season 2.1: Shades of Gray
And see also The Lazarus Project season 1: Time Travel Done Superbly Right
I'd say the most provocative element in the provocate episode 17.3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution up on Paramount Plus today is the team's discovery of a site on the dark web, "BAU Gate".
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
Actually, they've known about the site since 2014. But AI has souped up the site with ultra-convincing fake porm, and the star of that porn is Jennifer Jareau, which makes sense, given that she started with the BAU as its media spokesperson. Emily doesn't want Luke -- who was told about this by Voit in words we couldn't hear in last week's episode 17.2 -- to tell JJ about this, but of course he does. And in one fell swoop, Criminal Minds manages to stay cutting-edge current, bringing AI dramatically into the story, and in a way that ties together many of its numerous threads.
Numerous intersecting threads is what Criminal Minds is becoming increasingly all about. There's Voit and his family, connected via Voit to Gold Star, and now Voit as an Internet demon tells the BAU about BAU Gate. Also in episode 17.3, Emily is arrested by local police because a conspiracy nut -- who believes Paul really died in the 1960s and was replaced in The Beatles by someone else -- lies about Emily attacking him. What this has to do with Voit or BAU Gate is not clear, but you never know.
The specific case that draws David and Tara on a plane out West apparently has nothing to do with the above nexus, and the team finds that refreshing. I'm not sure about that. Maybe it would be better if everything was connected. On the other hand, it's good to see the BAU get an unambiguous win or two in the midst of the web of complications that is increasing drawing them and us in,
See also Criminal Minds: Evolution 17.1-17-.2 The Elusive Profile
And see also Criminal Minds: Evolution 16.1-16.4: Outstanding! ... 16.5: Assessment of What Could Have Happened at the End ... 16.6-16.8: Better Than Ever on Paramount Plus ... 16.9: Elias Voit and David Rossi ... 16.10: Gold Star
I saw Presumed Innocent -- the movie with Harrison Ford in the lead role -- in 1990. I shortly after read the Scott Turow 1987 novel from which the movie was adapted. That was a long time ago, no blogging, and I was a devoted possessor of a Radio Shack M100. I thought the movie and book were brilliant, with one of the cleverest endings, one of the most unexpected twists, I'd ever come across in a fictitious murder story. I still feel that way right now.
So I was tempted not to see the series that just went up -- more precisely, the first two episodes -- on Apple TV+ yesterday. But of course I did. And as I was watching these episodes, I realized I had no idea if this new series would tell the same story as the novel and the movie. And I realized that I didn't want to know beforehand, because not knowing that added its own level of suspense.
So far, if my memory from 23 years ago is ago is accurate, the story seems essentially the same. Jake Gyllenhaal is excellent in the lead role -- Rusty Sabich, an ADA in Chicago, whose colleague and lover Carolyn Polhemus is found murdered. Rusty is married, so he has some reason to want Carolyn eliminated -- to save his marriage.
Movies and TV series of course are two very different media -- 120+ minutes vs. 8 episodes of around 50 minutes each to tell a story. So I think there could be some riveting viewing ahead in the series. Also, as of the first two episodes, I really liked Bill Camp, Peter Sarsgaard, and Renate Reinsve. I'm going to review the series episode by episode, and I'll try my very best not to divulge any spoilers.
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 390, in which I review Dark Matter 1.7 on Apple TV+.
Further places:
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
Jason 1 and Amanda finally get to a beautiful Chicago, replete with monorails, an Obama tower (which reached its full height in our reality on this side of the screen just a few days ago -- a nice feat of perfect timing for the TV series), and the soft breath of Spring. Amanda loves it so much she wants to stay in this reality, and she invites Jason 1 to stay with her, as the two, dressed in the height of fashion, dine in a restaurant that looks like an updated Windows on the World from a World Trade Center that survived and is now in Chicago. He's tempted but declines the offer. He wants to go back to his family that Jason 2 has taken from him. They part. Amanda takes the elevator down, alone. She starts crying, but gets out on the ground floor with a smile and a deep determination. It's a memorable scene, tear-worthy in itself. But it's worth noting that with the ampules Jason 1 puts in her purse without her knowledge, he has a feeling they'll be seeing each other again.
Jason 1 goes on to another reality that he hopes will be enough like his that he can live there. He comes close, but he finds Daniela in bed with another Jason, and Max -- a twin of Charlie who died in infancy in Jason 1's original world -- alive and with some serious problems of his own. Jason 1 realizes this world won't work, but he finally figures out how to get to his reality, which he does. He decides to kill Jason 2, tries to buy a gun but settles for a knife and pepper spray ...
Meanwhile, Jason 2 is being pressed by Detective Mason about what happened to Ryan. He decides to break down the wall he had built last week around the room to alternate realities, and bring Ryan back to Jason 1's world to get Mason off his case. He also decides to get a gun, and in a final scene that's set to change everything, of course walks into the same gun shop as Jason 1 left less than a minute before. The gun dealer of course acts as if she's just seen him, and this lets Jason 2 know that Jason 1 has made it back to his world.
So the stage is set for the concluding two episodes of this series (which I hope will be just the first season of this compelling series): Jason 1 back in his world, finally able to get back what was stolen from him. I have a feeling that's not quite going to happen.
See also Dark Matter 1.1-1.2: Break-Neck Action and Philosophic Contemplation ... 1.3 Missing Fingers ... 1.4 The Multiverse Unveiled ... 1.5: The Lesson ... 1.6 "A Bunch of Chicagos"
"Paul is original his books and music are different than the norm -- they are clever!" -- Billy J. Kramer🎶
"a wild ride" -- Michael McLuhan 🎶
"now I’m desperate to hear songs from the Asimov/McCartney musical" -- Thomas MacFarlane, The Beatles and McLuhan and Lennon and McCartney: Painting with Sound 🎶"one of my favourite moments treats us to a Beatles concert in Central Park" -- Keith Soltys, Core Dump 🎶
"a fascinating tale of what could have been had John Lennon not been murdered ... a passionate celebration of a musical genius whose life was prematurely cut short ... a science fictional celebration [by] a master of speculative fiction and alternate reality, Paul Levinson" -- Chris Cosmain, Novikov Windows and The Amazon Anomaly 🎶
"Such a wonderful story! I grew up as a real science fiction fan and time travel and alternative history has always been a favorite SF genre of mine. The story offers such a speculative piece that keeps one thinking. A detective story mixed with all of this. Just a wonderful story. With synchronicity mixed into it and the mention of Roots of Coincidence, one of my favorite books from long ago. In many ways, a story for our times after Covid as many think we are living in some alternate reality or alternative history." -- John Fraim, Amazon 🎶
"What would you do if you came from an alternate reality in which John Lennon was never killed — and you became accidentally aware of our own universe? This excellent, eerie novel explores that question in ingenious style. It’s a page-turner with philosophical heft and a great sense of rock history (not to mention some surprise cameos by Lennon, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, and other luminaries). Highly recommended for fans of Philip K. Dick and/or the Beatles." -- SVL, Goodreads 🎶
"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite (and absolutely non-didactic) meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History 🎶
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Get the novel on Kindle, paper, or in hardcover here.
When I saw and reviewed the first season of The Lazarus Project on TNT last November, I said it was "the best time-travel series I've ever seen on television, bar none." Having just seen the first episode of the second season on TNT last night, I feel exactly the same.
Time travel as a genre brought to the screen excels in protagonists going back in time and doing the same thing with suitable modifications over and over until they get it -- saving a life or taking a life -- over and over, again, until they get it right, or not. George is the perfect character for this. And Paapa Essiedu's face shows just the right range emotion of someone going through this.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
But George is on the outside of The Lazarus Project now, excluded from the group, and the from the gun-carrying elite, because, as he aptly put it, he put love before loyalty to the project and its all-important mission. And this is especially hard on George, given that the recipient of his costly love, Sarah, has now taken his place with group.
The other big development in this episode is that a group headed by Dr. Kitty Gray, at first thought to be separate from Lazarus, has developed its own old-fashioned time machine. Wes, understably worried about what this H. G. Wells inspired machine could do to Lazarus's struggle to save existence, wants someone to keep an eye on Kitty and her work. All the more surprising, then, to see Wes in a photograph in the audience of a group taking in a lecture by Kitty. Apparently Kitty and her time machine are not as separate from Lazarus as Wes would want us to believe.
A good set-up for the second season, the rest of which I'm eagerly awaiting!
See also The Lazarus Project season 1: Time Travel Done Superbly Right
Criminal Minds: Evolution is back on Paramount Plus with the first two episodes of its new season (17, if you count the original Criminal Minds on CBS). I saw them last night and they were excellent.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
The story picks up two weeks after the events in the Season 16 finale. Elias Voit, the mastermind networking serial killer from last season is in jail, but his capture has taken a toll on our heroes. Rossi is hallucinating conversations with Voit, Emily's on a razor's edge, but the BAU is mobilized to the find the Gold Star killer, whose moniker was introduced at the end of last season.
The only thing that's clear about who and what Gold Star is, well, is that Voit is not Gold Star per se. Or, to be more precise, he couldn't be the person who actually killed any of the victims in the first two episodes of this new season, because he was behind bars all the time. Emily thinks Gold Star may be a killer out West, but when she says we're ready to deliver the profile, Rossi tells her no, we're not. As always, the BAU is rent with disagreement, as well as the FBI Director wanting to get rid of them, but they manage to move forward.
As in the last season, the use of explicit language is refreshing and realistic. I could do, though, without the explicit gore, but that's just me. And as long we're talking about how streaming has liberated television from network prudishness, a little nudity -- for our living characters -- wouldn't be bad, either, just sayin'.
The serial killer -- in this case, Voit -- being a necessary but ever dangerous ally of law enforcement is of course something we've seen already with Hannibal Lecter. But Zach Gilford as Voit was a great addition to the show -- even though every time I hear or write the name I think of Chicago PD -- and it's great to see him back in this new season.
Speaking of which, I'm hoping to see Spencer back before this season is over as well.
See also Criminal Minds: Evolution 16.1-16.4: Outstanding! ... 16.5: Assessment of What Could Have Happened at the End ... 16.6-16.8: Better Than Ever on Paramount Plus ... 16.9: Elias Voit and David Rossi ... 16.10: Gold Star
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 389, in which I review Dark Matter 1.6 on AppleTV+.
Further places:
But that was only one of many good lines in this episode, and the series has now progressed, in my opinion, from excellent to outstanding.
[And here's the place I'll advise you about spoilers ahead ... ]
I'll bullet some of the best moments:
