S Coldsmith

What a disappointment. Do writers in the streaming era even know how to construct a story? The most relateable character, the detective played by the excellent McKinley Belcher, should have been the focus of the story. He could have been the source for some laughter, some hope, a sense of drive despise all the dreariness. It could well be that the story was developed after Benedict Cumberbatch (also excellent) was hired, so then there would have been pressure to put a lot of the narrative focus on the Famous Guy. Cumberbatch and his wife are understandably circling the drain in this story, but watching them reminded me of a hospital drama where 90% of the action was on the Stage IV cancer ward. Personally, the story of a Black and gay cop trying to break two difficult cases at once, while exposing expose corruption in the force, would have been a lot more interesting than the story of an alcoholic writer’s career crisis. Eric’s/Cumberbatch’s) rants about the homeless didn’t make me like the character any better, especially when it was served up in such large doses.

Funny, timely, excellent. The professors are old fuddy-duddies and the Woke are Jihadis in training. And yet I laughed all the way through. A great production from Amanda Pete and Sandra Oh. I hope we have a season two.