The Week in TV, 11/6/25

With Halloween past, we move on to the month of falling leaves, harvest feasts, and the sunset coming ever closer to 4 PM.

Catching up

I might should just delete this section until I actually have time to catch up on anything.

What’s new?

The Lowdown, “The Sensitive Kind” – Season finale.

“There is only one plot: Not all is as it seems.”

A bit of a denouement after the early cliffhanger is resolved, but no less compelling. The central mystery was more complicated than the official story and ultimately less complicated than it seemed like it could be. Lee spends part of the episode knocking down the final pins and getting to the truth, with some help from Marty (who saves his ass and also delivers some of the episode’s funniest lines), then coming to a resolution that brings some kind of justice while still allowing him to write a story he can be proud of– while, perhaps, for once, not hurting people unnecessarily in the process. (And we get “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” and “So Long, Marianne” in the finale, which are winners for me.) I quite enjoyed this show, and Sterlin Harjo’s well-observed, unique look at Tulsa. It’s got more plot and stakes than Harjo’s Reservation Dogs, which is a big reason it kept me more hooked than that did. I tried to stay light on details to avoid spoilers, but it’s definitely worth your time.

Matlock, “Piece of My Heart” – While the team works a wrongful-death case, Olympia and Matty follow up a lead with a connection to Senior’s Australia trip, which brings in the always-delightful Melanie Lynskey as Debra. Julian’s new role in compliance may have uncovered a clue that could put Matty and Olympia’s mission in jeopardy. As always, at least pretty-good, and the episode reaches back into the personal with some of Matty’s memories of Ellie and how they connect to her time with Debra.

Elsbeth, “Ick, a Bod” – Yes, a case actually takes Elsbeth– in her series of Eliza Doolittle getups for “Halloweek”– to Sleepy Hollow, New York for a murder case. Someone was beheaded at a haunted house, and since the head wasn’t actually identified as a real human head until it was brought back to New York with the rest of the Halloween supplies, there’s your thin justification for the jurisdictional question. Annaleigh Ashford guests as your murderer, the kind of uptight suburban control freak that would in fact murder someone to preserve her sense of her little hamlet remaining exactly the impeccable, flawless place it is. (I also realized, even with as much TV as I watch, I still have trouble telling Annaleigh Ashford, Jessica Lowe, and Emily Osment apart.)

The Chair Company, “Bahld Harmon birthplace (disputed)” – Now, while on the one hand I don’t know that the flashbacks were strictly necessary, they do set up the ending nicely and add even more emotional weight to it. And the reason I say I’m not sure they’re necessary is that they otherwise mostly confirm things we’ve sussed out already– namely, Ron’s obsessiveness and need to feel important, and where it’s previously led him– but it does color in just how far he’ll go in that regard, as well as that his family has dealt with this before, and they know the signs it’s happening again. Which reopens the question: How much of this is real and how much is just in Ron’s head? Or, perhaps, will the tension between it actually being real and Ron’s family thinking it’s not drive a wedge between them?

And of course, the usual collection of absurd happenings and slightly off-kilter dialogue. “We all like to get paid money. We don’t say it.”

St. Denis Medical kicks off season 2 with two episodes, “Aloha, Everyone” and “Mama Bear Activated”. The second episode was definitely funnier than the first, but they’re both a solid return to form. The first episode suffers a little bit from the obvious viewer knowledge that Alex’s attempt to bring back her relaxed Hawaii vacation vibes cannot last, and because it has to deal with the Matt-Serena melodrama from the end of season 1. The show even at its baseline is still pretty funny, though. The second episode gives us a lot more opportunities for comedy, as Bruce is attacked on his way into the hospital, which of course punctures his facade of brave-face machismo and leads to some hilarious physical comedy between him and Matt. Serena and Ron get a funny side story about self-defense and who’s in shape. Joyce wants to get some security measures (that the hospital can afford) to protect her doctors, and Alex tries to use the media to draw attention to the crisis (of… doctors getting attacked in parking lots, I guess). A very welcome sitcom to have back, and if you aren’t watching, you should.

I Love LA, the new show from Rachel Sennott, premiered Sunday with “Block Her.” I had mixed feelings on this one, where Sennott plays a, I guess, influencer marketer. On the one hand, there are some funny stretches, and there’s a lot of the cast I quite like already (Sennott, Jordan Firstman from English Teacher, Leighton Meester). On the other hand, I would probably find these people insufferable in real life, and apparently I am so old that even watching twentysomethings go clubbing is too loud for me. I don’t think it’s of bad quality, but it may end up being that it’s just not my vibe. We’re not dropping out after one episode, though; we’ll see where it goes first. (I will add, Maia and Tallulah making up by the end of the episode moved my needle on the show in its favor; I don’t think I could take an extended stretch of Los Angeles Fake Friendliness.)

DMV, “Don’t Kill the Job” – Chelsea Frei, always a fun time and more frequently on your television this year, guests as an old friend of Colette’s who’s become famous as an actor on a crappy but popular beach-firefighter procedural. (Yes, that’s right, and by right I mean ridiculous.) Some funny moments in the episode, and I enjoyed the B-plot of Gregg teaching Noa how to work slower.

However, the show has had the same consistent problem since the pilot: the A-plots around Colette are pretty broad and hacky. They tend to involve a combination of awkwardness and farcical covers-up of lies and schemes, mostly about her crush on Noa. These have her behaving, at best, like the sitcom character who is always trying to prove they’re not what they are (like the worst Amy plots in Superstore), and at worst, like an insane, hack-sitcom / farcical-romcom character and/or an infatuated Tina Belcher. It’s not just stale and hacky, it also really clashes with the more mundane setting of the DMV. It feels almost like the writers don’t trust their own premise. Tony Cavalero still gets most of the best material, and Tim Meadows makes everything he’s given work, but as much as I like Harriet Dyer, the show isn’t doing her any favors with all the heightened behavior and lying and scheming and covering it up.

But despite that, there are still a lot of funny jokes and moments, and the stories with Vic, Gregg, and Barb tend to be better. I should mention, since I haven’t yet, Molly Kearney has been more and more fun as Barb, a combination of weirdly specific commitments (like to the DMV) and complete naïveté about most, um, adult matters. (It’s a very Tobias Fünke trait.)

I’m gonna keep trying in hopes the show starts to settle into its good parts (and have more stories about, you know, things that happen in the DMV), because there are elements I like a lot if the whole thing is executed better.

Beavis and Butt-Head, “Mission / Beavis H.” – Old Beavis and Butt-Head, who keep showing up to a church they mistake for a government building to try to pay their parking tickets, get invited to join in missionary work in Mexico. They mistake this for a military operation (which also leads to a very funny flashback to when younger Beavis and Butt-Head tried to join the Army). This I found quite funny, including the tag. In the present day, a new student joins Beavis and Butt-Head’s class, also named Beavis. I do feel like they could have done more with that premise, but there are some pretty good jokes. And I did like the TV-watching segments, particularly the first one.

Smiling Friends, “Curse of the Green Halloween Witch” – The show kind of turns into a horror episode. There were a few funny moments, but most of it is played more or less straight. Which is fine, I guess.

Bob’s Burgers, “The Secret Guardin'” – Tina was given a raise for babysitting the kids, and after they were in Linda’s room, Tina accidentally broke one of Linda’s figurines and bought a replacement. The kids have to cover it up, but Louise has a dental appointment, which gets her so high on the goof juice that she’s saying all sorts of things… and Gene and Tina have to keep her from spilling the beans. Teddy is supposed to pick up Kathleen’s mother Mary from the airport, which goes hilariously awry in a way I’d rather let you discover for yourself. Pretty solid episode of Bob’s.

Abbott Elementary, “Camping” – In order to keep them from their planned vandalism, Barbara plans a Halloween night out camping with the kids in her music club, and ultimately the rest of the teachers come along and bring their clubs as well. Better than last week’s, with some pretty funny jokes throughout, but it still feels a little odd the degree to which the show has seemingly abandoned the actual school (as well as consistent characterization) this season.

Falling behind

I still don’t have any updates on our streaming shows. When things slow down a bit, we’ll get back to them.

Old favorites

A friend hasn’t been keeping up with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so we’ve periodically been trying to introduce him to the essential episodes. Sunday, it was “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention,” and, well, I’ll give you the opportunity to remember your favorite moments from that in the comments.

We rang in Halloween with a selection of our favorite Halloween sitcom episodes from short-lived and underrated sitcoms from 2011-12. That included Don’t Trust The B—- in Apt. 23‘s “Love and Monsters…”, Happy Endings‘ “Spooky Endings,” Ben and Kate‘s “Scaredy Kate”, and Suburgatory‘s “Halloween.” All range from good to great; unfortunately, I think only the first two are streaming.

Just ended

This was the finale of The Lowdown.

Coming up

Tomorrow marks the premiere of cheerleading-mockumentary sitcom Stumble on NBC, and the premiere of Vince Gilligan’s project that combines all three of his most notable TV works– a sci-fi/supernatural element (The X-Files), Albuquerque (Breaking Bad), and Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul)– Pluribus on Apple TV.

And you?

I don’t know, but I’ve been told / I like TV new or old.