This title really makes me laugh, like, what if someone had a task! Spiritually, this could be the title of every television show. But in this case it’s really meant to stand for Task Force, namely one led by zaddy Ruffalo, who is just getting zaddier by the year (do we still say zaddy as a nation?) Cops and robbers, or task force leaders and home invaders in this case, aren’t really my thing, but this show comes from Brad Inglesby the creator behind Mare of Easttown. I totally ignored Mare when it aired and disregarded all recommendations for it, and that was my bad because it turned out to rule. Sorry Brad, sorry Kate, sorry to my community. Also we are back in PA, so maybe more accents!

Zaddy Alert again! Sorry, I’m locked in to it now. The Lowdown’s zaddy is Ethan Hawke, as a Tulsa journalist trying to uncover, what else, the truth! The official FX website for this show describes him as a “truthstorian”, which…might be worse than zaddy — but we can push past! This series also comes from an acclaimed writer, Sterlin Harjo, who helmed critical darling Reservation Dogs for FX. Harjo now returns to the dusty plains of Oklahoma for a corruption mystery with noir vibes. You know, I myself am in some ways a truthstorian if you think about it.

Okay, because I am coming to you more than halfway through the year there is a lot we did not get to talk about together, namely this year’s best show The Pitt. There is nothing I love more than a gritty medical documentary and The Pitt brings that energy in a tidy procedural style package. After shows that are billed as 12-hour movies and Netflix sludge meant to be watched while you scroll TikTok, The Pitt is what TV should be. An ensemble of almost too hot for their profession archetypal characters, snappy medical jargon, and social lessons about the state of healthcare. The only problem - there were only 15 episodes. 

What’s a girl to do? Only one answer-

ER (1994-2009) With 15 seasons and over 300 episodes, this is the antidote. Guys, I never watched this show in the 90s but it is A+++, I’m talking West Wing level tier good. This is a show with a young George Clooney in every episode, and he is not even the best part of the show. The way I feel about Anthony Edwards in this - unhinged, I am unwell for that man. Every episode is a performance waiting for an Emmy, every guest star credit crawl a gift basket of delight. Also a baby Noah Wyle, so if you want you can pretend this is Dr Robby from The Pitt’s origin story. And of course, social lessons about the state of healthcare. 
Gen Xers, do NOT tell me what happens! This show is my one true joy and I am sharing it with all of you!!
Avail to stream on HBOMax

Preparation for the Next Life - September 5th 

Is there a finer genre of indie movie than the RomDram? Extra points for adopted from a novel! In Preparation for the Next Life, two star-crossed lovers meet in New York City (the third character in any good story) and hammer out a life together. One, a recent immigrant, the other a US Army Vet. One, a fresh- faced ingenue; the other, the porn-addict brother from White Lotus S1 (who I actually really like btw). However, my real hype is Bing Liu’s new movie (and first fakey), and I am excited to see what he’s got in the tank. But, more on him in a second (maybe in the Something Old, see how cohesive this new blog style is, we are really on an artistic journey together. We are all Truthstorians here).

Paul Mescal is in love with Josh O’Connor in the past and wears little glasses. Need I say more. 

Circling back to Bing Liu, Minding the Gap is his first movie - a documentary he shot over his teen years and 20s, and it is beyond. It’s a film about skateboarding yes, but also about boys, and trauma cycles, and friendship and art. It’s staggering and it should have won the Oscar over that movie about the mountain climbing guy. Bing is climbing the mountain of generational toxic masculinity! Anyway, everyone should see this. 

As we all know, the coolest books are about ghosts and death and stuff. Somebody is Walking On Your Grave is a style-bending mashup from Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez where she spins her life story through the device of visiting grave yards of the world! Wednesday Addams eat your heart out. Her previous book, Our Share of Night was also a multigenerational novel about a family dealing with their history, trauma, and of course the fact they are literal monsters. Goths unite.

Goths stay in line! If you don’t know Rachel Harrison, she is the Bailey School Kids of feminist horror (complimentary). Her books span the monster gamut from werewolves to satanic cults and also hit hard on issues like, what if my friendships aren’t the same in my 30s!!! Play Nice sees an influencer (natch) tasked with cleaning out her childhood home where the ghosts are literal AND metaphorical. A24 could never. 

If you think I am not having a full vampire summer, you are wrong. I am sleeping in a coffin and eyeing up carotids.To bring it back to television — AMC’s adaptation of this book is really everything to me, it’s sumptuous, gay, and has a swimming pool of blood. But of course nothing beats the original series for feeling like a pre-teen reading all night in front of an open vampire-friendly window. One of the most enduring cinnamon roll x alpha pairings, plus killer children, the antebellum South and lots and lots of blood.  Please hit me up if you want to talk vampire lineage and Maharet dream casting! 

Kelly (Milky) Tran
To ease you into the world of content creators, Kelly spans the gorge of film and social - an aspiring writer and director with more than a few short films already under her belt, Milky also uses her narrative skills to create relatable, stomach-churning reels about, what else,- adulting. Although she posts her gen z fits, pole dancing, and extremely committed branded content spots, her ongoing series “ 3 Adult Things That Happened to Me, As An Adult” is her piece de resistance. Adult things can befall us anytime, like being too shy to talk to your neighbors, getting bedbugs from a hookup, or confronting generational trauma!