Arlene Johnson

This was a flop, especially by comparison to S1 and S2. It tries to do too much—family, race, toxic masculinity, art, academia, philosophy, abuse, sexuality, alcoholism, death, mental illness, dysfunction... The plot is completely predictable despite being far too busy. There is plenty of time for eye rolling as the the “anti-hero” abandons his roles as father, husband, and teacher to grapple with his existential numbness, scrambling for pointless thrill after pointless thrill, unaffected by the havoc reeked in the lives of those around him. In fact, this protagonist feels a righteous indignation towards life and holy justification for his reckless abandon. This pretty, broken, little white guy just can’t handle his own mediocrity, and fails to see reality or take any accountability for wrong doing. 2-stars for the accuracy of white, male ego fragility and the sad reality of public servants’ far too frequent need to entirely lack boundaries in order to do their jobs.