HBO’s ‘Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes’ is based on Ronan Farrow’s podcast, which is an offshoot from his book which is an offshoot from the NewYorker article that he did exposing Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault cases. I know that the whole premise sounds like it is beating an already dead horse, but there’s something about this case that is still quite interesting for me. Maybe because it has very famous personalities in it, and seeing the case in a new medium (this time, a television series) makes it even more animated. I have only watched the first two episodes of the series, and it has captivated me.
On the first episode, we get Ambra Battilana, the Filipina/American actress who finally broke the big case. The star of the episode is her audiotape. When she went to report Weinstein assaulting her, the police asked her to wire tape their next interaction. She did, only to find her case being thrown out for lack of evidence. Through her resourcefulness, she found that she has saved a copy of the tape and we get to hear parts of it on the episode. It’s fascinating.
On the second episode, Farrow interviews Rowena Chiu, a young British woman who was a junior assistant to Weinstein. She was then assaulted while attending Venice Film Festival with him. In both cases, he goes and tries every trick in the book to hide all evidence and silence the accusers by paying them and having them sign NDAs. The shows go through the process he takes to get these done.
I just finished Episodes 4 – 6 of HBO Max’s ‘Love Life,’ and now I am officially hooked. While it seemed like the first three episodes feel like Darby was just going through a series of men, the next three episodes have her getting into ia real long-term relationship, and getting married. The narrative will also suck you in – she meets Magnus, a chef who is lovable but much flawed – a complicated man child. He is passionate about his craft – talented and creative – but he is also undisciplined and dangerous. We see Darby fall for him hook, line, and sinker, and the relationship gets mentally abusive. And we think why does she get herself trapped in this? As we ask that question, we get episode 5, which is basically a flashback to a year she spent in boarding school, where she meets Luke, a guy who gives her self-confidence. But, he also takes everything away from her. There is a wonderful 180 degree that happens in Episode 6 that serves as Darby’s ‘escape’ from her marriage with Magnus. The story is wonderfully told, and we get great performance from Anna Kendrick, who’s ‘awkward’ aura is perfect for the character. I really love it and am waiting with bated breath for what happens next.
‘Love Life’ is the one show on HBO Max I had been looking forward to seeing, since it’s a romantic series – you know me, hopeless and hopeful. It is billed as an ‘anthology’ and I was wondering if it was similar to Amazon’s ‘Modern Love’ which I loved.
Luha Thoughts 