Ins, Outs, and Dead Exes
The First Perkculture of 2025!!
Happy New Year! I was going to do a 2024 pop culture recap, but honestly, I’m sick of them. There are only so many things that can be said about Moo Deng, the Olympics break dancer, and Brat Summer. I have nothing to add there. If you’re dying for a list, one I always love is Evan Ross Katz’s Annual 25 Most Burned-in-my-Brain Images.
I did make a 2025 Ins & Outs list:
What I’m Watching
Not No Good Deed
I tried to watch No Good Deed on Netflix and it’s not for me. I might finish it? Unsure. I’ve heard great things and if you love it- I’m so glad! The pace is too slow and the characters are too underdeveloped for my taste. The cast is obviously incredible but I just felt their talents were underutilized. I was excited to see Ray Romano starring in a show because I just finished watching him kill it in the TV show iteration of Get Shorty. That show was on from 2017 to 2019 and I’ve never heard anybody talk about it (probably because it was on Epix?) but it is shockingly good. Like a less-funny-but-just-as-good Barry. Chris O’Dowd deserved an Emmy!! So I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re not enjoying No Good Deed, switch over to Get Shorty, Enlightenment (Luke Wilson), or The Comeback (Lisa Kudrow), to see the cast really thrive.
Laid
I loved Laid on Peacock. This is a show that felt really tailor-made for me.1 *Stefon voice this show has it all* Housewives references, women in their 30s, a gratuitous amount of hot actors, plot twists, mystery, gruesome deaths lol. It’s about a woman who’s ex-boyfriend dies, then she realizes all of her exes are dying so she tries to figure out why. The writing is so sharp and witty and the pacing is so fast that it’s a perfectly binge-able show. I wish tv shows like this still got 24 episodes a season. It’s from the same creator of Don’t Trust the B*tch in Apartment 23, which I love, so I expected to really like this and it exceeded expectations. Stephanie Hsu is spot-on perfect in the role, as is Girls alum Zosia Mamet. I also love the intro cover of James’ 90’s hit “Laid”. People on reddit and twitter are equally as angry as I am that it’s not on Spofity.
Black Doves
Another show I loved is Black Doves. It’s a British thriller, espionage, spy show on Netflix. British tv rarely disappoints me, but with Kiera Knightly starring in a spy show I knew there was not way I wouldn’t love it. Her co-star, Ben Whishaw, who, bears a striking resemblance but is not the child actor from Stepmom a grown-up, also deserves an Emmy nom for this role. I loved that there was a queer character who is normal (except being an assassin, sure). It was never a weird focal point, like so many shows make a big deal “Oooh aren’t we sooo progressive because he’s GAY!” but Black Doves didn’t do that at all. The complexity of the leads’ relationship was so good. It slumps a liiiiitle towards the last eps but hang in there because it really is worth the watch.
What I’m Reading
I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I’m Going to Anyway)
I finally finished the last couple of chapters of Chelsea Devantez’s memoir I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I’m Going to Anyway). I do this sometimes with tv series or books where if I really love it I don’t finish it. I just got around to watching the final episode of Season 1 of Bad Sisters. It’s like leaving the last bite of dessert so you can have it later. Chelsea’s book was that for me. I started it months and months ago but finally let myself finish it. It’s a book that made me laugh and cry several times and reading the last chapters was bittersweet. Her ability to maintain humor while discussing things like domestic violence, religion, and abandonment is a gift. I wholly recommend this book. I also love her podcast, Glamorous Trash, formerly Celebrity Book Club, which has made me feel great about the fact that 90% of what I read are celebrity memoirs.
What’s in the News
Okay lots has been in the news (RIP legend Linda Lavin- who yes, is one of the best roles in No Good Deed!) but unfortunately I feel I must address the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni PR situation…again. Stop reading now if you don’t care about this- thanks for reading anyway!
If you, I don't know, have been skiing in the Alps away from cellular reception for the last couple of weeks, then you may not have seen that Blake lively filed a complaint against Justin Baldoni and his production company citing that there was an intentional PR smear campaign meant to destroy her set out by Justin Baldoni, Yes, I admit that I was partially really taken by the bad PR. Remember- if it’s hive mind and we’re all thinking it, it’s probably PR!! There's a very long complaint and I read all of it and the subsequent articles about it.
Justin is now suing the New York Times for their article covering it. There are people on TikTok who are claiming it's just dirty PR on both sides, and people who are staunchly defending Blake. I want to side with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but my opinion is that they are probably both wrong here. I think Justin is probably not a very good person and I think he did worse things here, and I really have a lot of empathy for what Blake seemingly endured and especially the amount of hate that she got. Learning that the whole “Grab your girls and wear your florals!” thing was the marketing strategy that she was contractually bound to, and Justin broke contract and made it seem like he was focusing on DV while she was focusing on fashion, was a weird revelation. Why would they have intentionally made that the marketing?! However, the crisis PR team didn’t force her to be so awful on the press tour and continually bring up her own passion projects and her husband’s movie. Quotes directly from her mouth weren’t planted by Melissa Nathan.
Still, I tend to side with the woman, because women can be bitches and still deserve to have their boundaries respected. I think the truth always lies somewhere in the middle, but Justin's whole “I'm doing this because I'm an ally to women and I support abuse victims stick” seems really icky and hiring the same PR firm that discredited Amber heard after the intense abuse that she experienced was a gross move to me always.
Ultimately, I do think that the PR people were just doing their jobs but I don't know how they can sleep at night knowing that that is their job. Being very good at your job of tearing down the public reputation of a woman is actually terrible. But also it’s a pretty easy job because our culture is really prepared to hate women at any moment.
I think what will likely happen is that we will get media fatigue and eventually nobody will really care about this unless there is an actual lawsuit that results in a trial or somebody does a tell-all interview.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and happy new year!!
Okay that’s all for this week! I hope your 2025 is off to an amazing start.
Someone help me get in that season 2 writer’s room!