2019 Summer TV Season Recap

Previous TV Season Recaps - (2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19)

Hello everybody and thank you for joining me once again for my annual trek through binging a few summer TV seasons that conveniently drop on streaming services throughout the season to tide me by until the annual fall season kicks in later this month. I seem to average about three shows each summer these past few years, and that has transpired once again! Let us get on with the recaps!

Jessica Jones - The final season from Netflix’s original lineup of Marvel TV series came to an end with the third season of Jessica Jones. The second season was a major step down from the excellent debut season, but luckily things step back up again for the final season, however it is not quite a redemption season as was Daredevil’s third season. The final season sees Trish gain new powers after the experiments she put herself though in season two, it was also fascinating watching her and Jess try and bury the hatchet after what happened between them in the final scenes of season two.

I dug the primary antagonist for season three in the form of a serial killer going by Sallinger. How we find out about him by new unwilling Jess sidekick Erik was fascinating to watch unravel as I got a kick out of Erik’s lame superpower ultimately being an ‘Asshole Radar.’ Ultimately Trish cannot control her powers and desperate measures causes Trish to break away from Jess and Erik to get things done on her own. The first half of the season outshines the second half, but the second half is not bad by any means, it is simply a couple notches under the strong buildup of the first half. Watching struggling lawyer Jeri Hogarth come to terms with her developing ALS kept me interested in her arc this season, and even Malcolm losing control of his sex drive was another silly side-arc that kept me intrigued and built on the hints alluded to it in the prior season. It was still a gratifying conclusion to show, but a hair too predictable, and it is a shame Marvel and Netflix could not come to terms to keep Jessica Jones going. Grade: B

Veronica Mars - I have raved on here before about my fanfare for Veronica Mars. I loved the original TV run and the movie from several years back, but never kept up with any of the cast or crew’s social media. Somehow for the presumably year or two back the new season was announced and in development I honestly had no idea about it so several weeks back I did a double take when booting up Hulu and saw how Hulu had the exclusive for a new season of Veronica Mars! It is a super quick watch at only eight episodes, and it means no episode overstays its welcome and minus a couple exceptions it was fun to see almost the entire cast return in noteworthy roles.
A bomb blowing up a hotel during spring break in Neptune has Veronica and her father on the case. Taking in Veronica and her dad piecing together the clues and interview countless suspects and witnesses was the usual fun jaunt to follow along with. Kristen Bell did not miss a beat with her excellent on-screen chemistry with her father played by Enrico Colantoni. The two have countless witty exchanges that continue the show’s pedigree of having dialogue being far too smart and clever to be genuine, but remains incredibly entertaining in its own right.

Most of the supporting cast old and new has their own mini-arcs throughout the season. Logan is the bodyguard for a controversial senator candidate, Keith is on edge awaiting CTE test results, Wallace now has a family and is a teacher and JK Simmons is a terrific addition to the cast and is another actor that has A+ chemistry with Colantoni. It was fun anticipating which of my favorite supporting actors would show up and for how big or minor a part they played. Some long last favorites caught me off guard and the couple major names that did not return were at least referenced a couple of times. I had to put my Patton Oswalt tolerance hat on for him being the conspiracy theorist pizza delivery man this season has a big emphasis on, but Oswalt is admittedly a pro in the role and I can at least take solace in Veronica having a fitting final line for him in, “What a dick!” Wonderful final words Veronica! Minus one bummer moment in the final episode, this was a fantastic return season of Veronica Mars and I hope to see Hulu keep more coming! Grade: A

GLOW - GLOW has become a summer ritual I anticipate for a third straight season. This year sees GLOW’s management take the promotion to be a regular act in Las Vegas. The premiere episode has a awfully entertaining exchange with Ruth Wilder’s evil Russian persona ‘Zoya’ being a guest on a morning TV news station during a historic moment in the 80s that goes all kinds of wrong. Seeing GLOW in Vegas was a fresh and fun twist on the show (and accurate to what happened to the legit GLOW promotion). The wrestling takes a bit of a backdrop this season minus a couple episodes, but that is fine because by this point most of the cast is fairly developed and most of the supporting cast got an episode or two of their own to shine in. Marc Maron delivers another five star performance once again as the affable scumbag promoter, and I could not help but root for him to get his daughter’s screenplay green-lit.

There are too many plot lines to cover here for the supporting cast, but most of them I was won over by. There is a great camping trip episode this season that is probably my favorite episode this season where the ladies all come together, get wasted and bond over personal moments. Only qualms I had with this season were a couple of heavy-handed political themes that seemed unavoidable due to a couple of episode’s plots, yet still gratingly preachy nevertheless. The season finale Christmas-themed episode was also a riot and left some interesting cliffhangers on the future for the show with Debbie getting a new big-time TV station deal. The actual GLOW promotion in the 80s only lasted four TV seasons, so if this GLOW presumably returns again next season I hope it will not be the last because it seems like it still has at least another few seasons of life left in it. Grade: A-

Past TV/Web Series Blogs

2013-14 TV Season Recap
2014-15 TV Season Recap
2015-16 TV Season Recap
2016-17 TV Season Recap
2017-18 TV Season Recap
2018-19 TV Season Recap
Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series
Baseball: A Ken Burns series
Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections
Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2
OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30
RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13
Roseanne – Seasons 1-9
Seinfeld Final Season
Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7
Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle
Superheroes: Pioneers of Television
The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series
X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5