december posting meme: tv and books bringing me joy right now
kass asked: What show / book / movie / fandom is bringing you joy right now and what do you love about it? (Or: what show / book / movie / fandom do you turn to when you're looking for comfort, and what do you love about it?)
Book-wise, I'm savoring Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series, one delicious mystery at a time. The books are set in the off-the-beaten-path Canadian village Three Pines, and they feature a very distinctive cast of characters from the small town, as well as Gamache and his crew of constables and detectives. There are some intertwined threads between the books, which I'm very interested to see resolved, and some ongoing character threads as well. But honestly? The satisfaction of these books is returning to the small village over and over with the changing of the seasons, and experiencing the place for Christmas, and Easter, and winter, and fall, and so forth. The second book starts with an epic description of Christmas in the village; I could have read ten books about it. It's been years since I've liked any books this much. (Most of what I read nowadays just...does nothing for me, unless it's non-fiction history or science.)
TV-wise, I'm enjoying a number of shows non-fannishly. Escape At Dannemora features Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano as two criminals who latch onto an absolutely bonkers insane civilian worker at their prison, played AMAZINGLY by Patricia Arquette (just give her the Emmy and let's call it a day), and how they manipulate her (and she lets them do it) with sex and presents and WTF, it boggles the mind that this is a true story. Every episode, it gets more batshit insane, to the point where I'm actually rooting for them to get away, and for her to be arrested immediately. (This would not be a good outcome, because the show glosses over what horrible violent men these were IRL, and plays up what an unattractive person the woman was (inside and out). This show. Anyway, it's excellent.
Also amazing is the Italian-language drama, My Brilliant Friend, on HBO. It's set almost entirely in post-war, small-town Italy, and centers on a smart girl and her much more brilliant (but not very stable) friend. The show thus far (I'm about five eps in) is tracking their competitive friendship as the two girls age, and one girl is allowed to continue on in school by her family, and the more brilliant girl is forced to drop out. It's gorgeously written, acted, and the characters are unpredictable, and so nuanced. Wonderful TV.
Also excellent was The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, which I binge watched prior to Halloween, and then I watched it again to pick up on all the clever clues and hints and whatnot that were layered throughout the show. Some I saw the first time, and others I completely missed and was amazed by. It's spooky, but it's also about how families fall apart and get glued back together. It's really good.
And finally, I wouldn't call it comfort TV in any sense, but I cannot tear myself away from Leah Remini: Sc*entology and the Aftermath on A&E. It's in its third season now, and Leah Remini and Mike Rinder are just balls to the wall, no holds barred, trying to take their former pseudo-religion down as hard as they can slam it. More and more people are coming forward to speak on their show, and sometimes I just sit there with my mouth open, amazed at their stories. Recently they explored how Sc*entology got the IRS to give them tax exempt status. And they also have begun having on members of other religions they consider cult-like and displaying some of the same warning signs as Sc*entology (Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance), and interviewing members of communities Sc*entology is infiltrating (the Nation of Islam, believe it or not). There's just...so much. It's a lot. It hurts my heart. But it's important stuff. She's very, very brave.