Weekly Streaming Recap: Week of July 29th, 2022

Edge of the Earth Episodes 2 and 3 (HBOMax): Following up on the first episode’s trip to Alaska, episode two takes viewers to South America as some of the best white-water rafters attempt to traverse the length of a river that has never been done before and the third episode takes viewers to Pik Slesova in Kyrgyzstan as climbers attempt a free ascent across the rock face. As with the first episode, the most interesting part of the show is not the impressive nature shots or the feats of strength that these athletes show while attempting these records; it is the human-interest story that these athletes are showcasing. One of the common threads across all the episodes is that these athletes all accomplished what they set out to do before they try these death-defying feats. There is a similar “and Alexander wept seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer” vibe to their trials and tribulations on the show, which makes the ordeals all the more interesting.

The Rehearsal Episodes 2 and 3 (HBOMax): One of the things that is setting The Rehearsal apart from Nathan For You (and not necessarily in a good way) is that this latest show is using longer multi-episode arcs instead of individual and self-contained events. The recurring story about him rehearsing having a family with the client is moderately amusing, however it is going on way too long and is harming the main plot of the third episode by taking runtime away from the guy who is trying to confront his brother about the inheritance. Considering these shows work best when Nathan’s schemes are more and more outlandish, having him simply play house with someone is not entertaining within the context of the show.

Light and Magic (Disney+): Light and Magic is a documentary commissioned by Disney about a Disney-owned subsidiary that handles most of their (and the rest of the industry’s) visual effects work. There is definitely a bias in this documentary towards Disney-owned properties and the series does come up a little short when it comes to telling the whole story of ILM’s impact on the industry. The docuseries ends at Jurassic Park and omits the more recent innovations like the motion capture of Avatar and the Stagecraft soundstage they use now for many films and series, but it does cover a lot of the innovation that happened between 1975 and 1993.

Paper Girls Season 1 (Amazon Prime): While the science fiction aspects of this show may be lacking, the deep character story that Paper Girls follows is worth the time to watch. The story follows four girls who are swept from 1988 to 2019 while out on their paper route. Their quests to return home brings them face to face with the realities of their futures while being chased by an ambiguously evil, possibly corporatocratic entity as part of a time war that is never really clearly defined. That said, the series is not too long and it is worth a watch to see what well executed science fiction can be used for.

Blown Away Season 3 (Netflix): In a world where content is largely derivative in a lot of cases, it is surprising that it took so long to get a show about competitive glass blowing. That may seem sarcastic, but in a world where people will sit down and watch competitive cooking for about two decades and television shows about competitive home repair, a show about the craft of glass blowing should have come a lot sooner. Like previous seasons, competitors will be given a design concept and they have to make a piece of glass art that matches that concept. It is an excellent “ambient noise show” to have on while one is working or while one is doing something else because it does not require the viewer’s full attention, but it is very passively entertaining.

Harley Quinn Season 3 Episodes 1-3 (HBOMax): Picking up almost right where the previous season left off, the latest episodes bring the same sense of humor with over the top violence to the DC Universe. Even the subplots are funny and well executed, with DC and Marvel director James Gunn having a recurring role as himself as part of Clayface’s arc. The only concern (and it’s only been three episodes so this may be rectified by the end of the run) is that King Shark feels like he is being shortchanged in exchange for more Batman content.