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Melanie Mcfarland

Melanie Mcfarland

Salon

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"And Just Like That" is having a fashion crisis

Every fashion choice on this show tells a story. Some make us wonder what they're trying to say

07.06.2025 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

How we learned to love the evil rich

How we learned to love the evil rich

"Sirens" is the latest of many TV pleasures that sell inhumane behavior as the inevitable spoils of the 1%

05.06.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Marc Maron's heart made "WTF" a hit. In the Joe Rogan age, it's all about shallow brawn

Marc Maron's heart made

Sixteen years after “WTF” launched, we’re all in a different place emotionally than where and when it started

04.06.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The alpha male era is on its way out

The alpha male era is on its way out

The right’s “masculinity crisis” has popular culture in a bear hug. But it may be nearer to tapping out

01.06.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

How "Survivor" and "America's Got Talent" sell the lie that is the American Dream

Think you're watching a contest to find the next Terry Fator? You could be seeing a justification for Elon Musk

31.05.2025 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"And Just Like That," midlife's a crisis for everyone on TV except rich, gay men

The gay men in "And Just Like That," "The Four Seasons" and "Mid-Century Modern" are the ones aging gracefully

29.05.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Last of Us" finale tests the limits of our empathy

In a time when the right views empathy as weakness, HBO's apocalypse drama springs it on us in a finale cliffhanger

26.05.2025 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

What Judy Blume's "Forever" still gives us — and the teen dramas that followed her won't

The classic coming-of-age novel that inspired a new series remains timeless and necessary, on the page and screen

21.05.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Last of Us" helps us grieve by leaving nothing unsaid

Pedro Pascal’s Joel returns one last time in an episode that mourns those conversations death leaves unfinished

19.05.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The MAGA war on PBS was never about money

The latest GOP push to defund public media won't save much cash. But it will disadvantage poor and rural kids

18.05.2025 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

On "Andor," good was always a four-letter word

Instead of leaning on the usual hero myth, this "Star Wars" tale boosts our faith in tyranny's inevitable breakdown

17.05.2025 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Joan Rivers would have hated this

"Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute” reminds us she would've preferred her flowers while she was alive

14.05.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

YouTube at 20: The video platform transformed screen entertainment. Now it could change a lot more

The platform that changed the very meaning of electronic communication is now a dominant TV platform

13.05.2025 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Blessed be the memes, TV shows and "Conclave" for helping us welcome our first American pope

Before we met Pope Leo XIV, shows like "The New Pope" and "The Young Pope" mythologized the Vatican to the masses

10.05.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

At long last, "Hacks" flips the table on the bitter mentorship at the heart of the series

Salon speaks to the show's creators about making Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels work through their hate

10.05.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The throwback comfort of "Poker Face" returns

In our fraudulent era, it's a joy to get back on the road with Natasha Lyonne's old-school, no-bull detective

08.05.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The path to the Death Star is paved with lies: On "Andor," as on Earth, disinformation defeats truth

Before the Empire finished its weapon, its lies destroyed societies. We're living through our version of that

07.05.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The radically divine message of "Sinners"

To say a movie scene or performance gives us chills evokes something common, especially when we're talking about a horror film, which "Sinners" is,...

02.05.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

“Turning Point: The Vietnam War” lays bare the arrogance that fueled a lost cause

Brian Knappenberger's latest forgoes tragic sentimentality to present the war as it was: a senseless aggression

30.04.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

What's happening at "60 Minutes" matters to anyone who cares about protecting free speech

We should rewatch the SLAPP Suits episode of "Last Week Tonight" in the context of Trump's threat to press freedoms

27.04.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The inspiring end of "Andor" shows us how great rebellions begin

A concisely rendered 12 episodes chart how fascism flourishes and the ways to fight it piece by piece

22.04.2025 9

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

A bloody tragedy on "The Last of Us" is a familiar move for HBO

The zombie hit now shares a defining trait with other great HBO dramas, but not because of that epic battle scene

21.04.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Blue Origin's all-woman space flight made history, but not in the way it's promoting

The unifying message of Monday's all-woman rocket flight is that, for now, cold space belongs to the hot and rich

17.04.2025 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Barricade your heart because "The Last of Us" is on a mission to break it

Some worlds don't end in pandemics — they're undone by rash decisions that spin into massive, painful consequences

17.04.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The evergreen appeal of Sherlock Holmes helps us make sense of a perilously illogical world

"Sherlock & Daughter" joining "Watson" shows our yearning for the world to make sense hasn't been snuffed out yet

16.04.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Your Friends & Neighbors" lets Jon Hamm sell you the life you can’t afford

With a recession looming, is now a good time to debut a show about a rich man with problems? Sadly, yes

11.04.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Hacks" provides lessons in unlearning the rules of showbiz

Deborah and Ava have done their worst to each other, now they have to trust in each other's talent

10.04.2025 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Do we need to watch the final season of "The Handmaid’s Tale" when America’s writing its own?

We've watched June run in and out of Gilead and now we're running with her

08.04.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

With "Lazarus," the creative force behind "Cowboy Bebop" soothes our present vibe with his own

If this is the end of the world as we know it, Shinichirō Watanabe's may help you feel a bit closer to fine

06.04.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Fired White House Correspondents' dinner host Amber Ruffin has learned her lesson. The WHCA has not

“I thought when people take away your rights, you're supposed to call it out," Ruffin said on Monday. "I was wrong"

02.04.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Reading builds empathy": The case for saving America's libraries

America needs "third places" like our libraries more than we ever have, both functionally and philosophically

31.03.2025 50

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

MTG pitting Elon's DOGE against NPR and PBS is a literal hot mess

PBS and NPR have successfully defended public media from defunding in the past. This time feels different

27.03.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

In "Ludwig," being a detective is tough—and leaving the house is tougher

This cozy murder mystery turns sacrificing solitude into an act of heroism

26.03.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

On "The White Lotus," the Ratliffs ooze the kind of idle rich ignorance that's killing us

Wealthy fools are a feature of "The White Lotus," but this family may be the apotheosis of society's ruin

24.03.2025 7

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Goats, guts and a glorious day: "Severance" closes with a man divided

The second season answers the question of who Mark S. wants to be. Where he can run from here is an unsolved puzzle

23.03.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Severance" and the horrors of RTO: The case against bringing your best self to work

The divide between Lumon's workaholic "innies" and sad "outies" proves we should save our best energy for ourselves

21.03.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Residence" makes its White House mystery quaint and cozy by removing its institutional romance

Where "The West Wing" portrayed the White House as a hallowed place, this show sells it as an everyday crime scene

20.03.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Everything's permissible and nobody's accountable now: Welcome to the age of anything goes

Tony Hinchcliffe has a Netflix deal, Andrew Cuomo might be mayor and Mel Gibson may get his guns back. Why not?

16.03.2025 7

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Temptation Island" is the land of broken hearts and promises, making it America's truest reality TV

“Outside perspective, this seems nuts and crazy and people are probably wondering what the hell we’re doing. And I feel the same way.” While these...

13.03.2025 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The White Lotus" frenemies make a strong case for vacationing alone

Every season of Mike White's show features a terrible friend, but these three women might top them all

10.03.2025 7

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

As the media landscape shrinks, the right-wing bullhorn only gets louder

Broadcast news anchors are leaving and critics like Joy Reid have been fired. Can the news as we know it survive?

08.03.2025 9

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Daredevil" returns just in time to challenge America's lawless love of supervillains

Charlie Cox's blind hero returns in an era when justice is stacked against would-be heroes. That seems about right

05.03.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Meghan Markle doesn't elevate how-to TV, giving the haters more to hate

The Duchess of Sussex launches her lifestyle brand with a pretty show that looks like every other lifestyle brand

05.03.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

This time "Reacher," like us, may be dealing with something too big for him to handle

It is simply too big, this foe – unexpectedly huge and surprisingly quick. Jack Reacher’s creator, Lee Child, designed his hero to strike this...

21.02.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

YouTube at 20: The video platform transformed screen entertainment. Now it could change a lot more

The platform that changed the very meaning of electronic communication is now a dominant TV platform

19.02.2025 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The White Lotus" returns to luxuriate in the spiritual malaise of the rich and dissatisfied

Season 3 follows its guests' tours within, finding the psychological stowaways they've hauled on vacation with them

17.02.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Severance" and the important, mysterious job of speaking the language of work

Creator Dan Erickson weighs in on how the very precise, intricate Lumon-speak conveys the weirdness of it all

16.02.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Yellowjackets" returns with the same convoluted taste some of us aren't excited to re-acquire

The drawn-out mystery still bumbles along as before, which makes us wonder if it knows where it's going

16.02.2025 9

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Cobra Kai" may never die, but at long last, the show is over and bows out a champion

"The Karate Kid" spinoff went on for too long, but ends well by recalling what made it great in the first place

14.02.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

It's been a minute, but "Severance" returns to work with a weird wonder of a second season

Nearly three years after Apple TV 's phenomenal drama debuted, it manages to keep us enthralled with its mystery

12.02.2025 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland