7 shows I'm watching in April

The calm(ish) before the storm that is the Emmy qualifying period's crunch time.

7. Extrapolations (Apple TV+)
☑ My score: 56/100
☑ 8 episodes x 50 mins x 1 season

For thoughts on Extrapolations, Apple TV+’s climate change anthology, you can head over to my newsletter from earlier this month. But briefly: I don’t think it’s good television per se. It’s overstuffed with big celebrities and ends up being more focused on the wealthy and their climate change guilt rather than activists or those impacted by the hostile planet. That being said, I enjoyed it for taking a stab at climate change regardless, and wish more shows were willing to tackle that in earnest.

☑ Is it gay? Not really, this wouldn’t be the show I’d tune into for gay content (unless Meryl Streep playing a whale is queer to you in some way).

6. Dear Edward (Apple TV+)
☑ My score: 58/100
☑ 10 episodes x 45-50 mins x 1 season

An extremely strong and emotionally poignant pilot about those affected by a plane crash that killed all but one passenger devolves into a soapy mess in the later episodes, with some characters standing out thanks to capable acting (Connie Britton can really do anything, huh?) elevating a meandering script. By the end of the season, I didn’t feel like I had closure with most of the characters, nor did I feel it particularly needed a full 10 episodes. It was good enough for me to throw while chopping vegetables, but I wouldn’t consider this one a win for Jason Katims.

☑ Is it gay? Yes LET’S talk about this. Gay characters only appear on Dear Edward when they’re a threat to the heterosexual nuclear family. For one character, that means reconsidering his sexuality without a satisfying conclusion or shift in his hetero-passing life (it was very “ah, the things people go through when grieving <3”). Another is a plane crash victim who is discovered as gay after the fact, has drained his family’s bank account by having a secret gay double life, and left his family broke and devastated. Otherwise, gay characters fill the world’s cracks in random guest actor/background roles, without a significant exploration of a single queer person’s life in the way the straight characters were allowed here. Disappointing, to say the least.

5. Not Dead Yet (ABC)
☑ My score: 70/100
☑ 13 episodes x 20 mins x 1 season