In movies and TV, conventional legal divorce would often be so much easier, especially if you have
as much money as Angela Meyer’s abusive husband Olivier. She will be using her
maiden-name soon, for reasons we can certainly understand. He wants to get rid
of her and keep custody of their boring children, but she proves to be more resilient
than he expects in Harry & Jack Williams’ Angela Black, which
premieres tomorrow on Spectrum.
On
paper, the Meyers’ marriage looks happy, but he often beats her in private, for
the smallest grievances. At least he is frequently away on business. After the
latest thrashing, she finds herself alone at a bar on Halloween, where she is
approached by a strange man, Ed Harrison, who seems strangely interested in
her. At their next not-so-coincidental meeting, he claims to be a fixer, who
has done questionable work for her husband. He warns her Olivier has some
ominous plans for her, but he is here to help her (you know, just like the
government).
The
next three episodes are a smorgasbord of violent outbursts, gaslighting,
snooping, and protective services acting stupid. There are also some clever
thriller elements, but for seventy-five percent of the series, the tone is
closer to Sleeping with the Enemy than Hitchcock. However, the concluding
sixth episode either redeems the preceding melodrama or elevates it, depending on
your tastes and perspective. There is even a bit of a hat-tip to Patricia
Highsmith that pays off handsomely.
Just when flight attendants thought they had finally lived down the naughty
fictionalized memoir Coffee, Tea, or Me, hard-partying Cassie Bowden
comes along to give everyone the wrong idea again. However, she will regret her
ways when she wakes up next to a dead body in creator Steve Yockey’s The
Flight Attendant, based on Chris Bohjalian’s novel, which premieres this
Thursday on HBO Max—with the pilot episode currently sneak-peaking on YouTube.
Bowden
can be flaky, but her crewmates don’t mind. At least her work bestie Megan
Briscoe keeps forgiving her—the others are starting to run out of patience. She
really pushes it hooking-up with 1st class passenger Alex Sokoluv
mid-flight and then doubles-down on protocol violations by spending a wild night
with him in Bangkok. Rather inconveniently, the fun comes to a screeching halt
when he wakes up the next morning next to Sokoluv, whose throat has been cut.
Savvy
enough to distrust the Thai justice system, Bowden does her best to tidy up
after herself and sneak back to her hotel. She shortsightedly thinks she has
made it once her flight lifts off, but then she starts having visions of
Sokoluv guilt-tripping her for her disappearing act. Meanwhile, the body will
be discovered.
Kaley
Cuoco is definitely a spectacularly irresponsible mess as Bowden. It is
terrific portrayal of shallow excess, but the character will have to start
growing up, for us to spend four more episodes with her. Fortunately, getting
mixed up with a murder can have that effect on a person.
