The very tiniest, baby roots of this column started months ago, at a party. Knowing that Keith had this website happening and “did things with podcasts”, I naturally assumed he was an expert and would know if there was a podcast out there that focused on Montreal-made (or even Quebec- or Canada-made) content. In my head, there was a magical podcast and I just hadn’t found it yet. Something akin to NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour (which is a true delight, if you haven’t listened to it yet). Someone, or better yet, several someones who would happily point me to the best books, movies and TV shows coming out of our city, and who would give me something a little critical to sink my teeth into.

So… it turns out this doesn’t exist. And after letting the idea percolate, Keith got in touch with me and asked if I would be interested in trying to fill this void with a blog. And even though my fondest wish was to be spoonfed, taking matters into my own hands and foisting my opinions onto the masses seems like a pretty decent alternative. The premise, then, is that for every article, I will consume a more-or-less recent piece of made-in-Montreal pop culture.  Hopefully, it will be awesome.

First on my docket is dark comedy Série noire. The second season began airing last week, and the first one recently popped up in my Netflix suggestions. Like any reasonable adult and dedicated social butterfly, I decided to watch as many episodes of its twelve episodes as possible between Saturday and Sunday (ten).

I laughed, I felt awful, I watched the next episode. 7/10, would watch again

They were not ready for this jelly

The premise is this: two screenwriters, Denis and Patrick, have just read the reviews for the first season of their crime show, La Loi de la justice. Their show is almost universally panned. When the show is renewed for a second season, Denis convinces Patrick that they need to overhaul their writing process. Our immature, selfish heroes then make a series of short-sighted, terrible decisions that end with them being directly involved with the criminal underworld. The plot is then moved into increasingly absurd realms (aided by a brilliant supporting cast who almost deserve their own blog entry) as the two writers struggle to finish writing their episodes, secure their jobs, and extricate themselves from the situations they are in.

Série noire is going to be enjoyable for you only if you’re comfortable with watching sort-of-bad things happen to frequently unlikeable protagonists. If Veep or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia make you squirm, this show will leave a similar taste in your mouth.

The show oscillates between absurd situational comedy and truly depressing moments. It’s obviously much more a comedy than was Breaking Bad, but its first few episodes follow a similar arc: two relatively naive men decide to “do crime”, and end up in over their heads, with often hilarious results… until something serious happens. Here, the first three episodes offer consequence-free fun, but the fourth and fifth take some uncomfortably dark turns. I almost stopped then, but barreled on through and was relieved to see that the series lightens up again in subsequent episodes.  by the patently ridiculous situations our heroes find themselves in.

The show’s forays into the absurd are actually a brilliant self-referential tool: Denis and Patrick’s show is accused of being unrealistic, and the plot of Série noire mirrors that lack of realism, inspiring them to write even more unbelievable storylines for their heroine, Valérie.

The other metafictional aspects of this show are highly enjoyable too. Denis, approaching a door in a strange cabin, will dictate into his phone: “Valérie nears the door, the music swells. Tensions are high”, and at the same time, the show’s music will swell and become more tense. Their agent’s husband, one of the smallest recurring roles, complains to his therapist that, “even in my own life, it’s like I’m a bit part, with only a few lines spread out over eight or ten episodes”.  And driving one entire plotline is the fact that a deranged super-fan shares his name and backstory with a petty criminal that Denis and Patrick created for their show.

This delightful quirk, though, can’t completely erase some of the show’s faults. Léa, Patrick’s ex and a fellow writer, notes that La Loi de la justice  is “très misogyne”, with “women being dragged around by their hair for no reason” … and shortly thereafter in Série noire, a woman is unnecessarily assaulted in the name of plot-and-character-development.

You know, just a regular day-in-the-life for this womanIn general, the women on this show tend to be treated pretty awfully – by both the characters and the actual writers of the show. They don’t have especially interesting or complex roles to play, instead acting more as props in scenes that allow their male counterparts to shine, and are often cast as “bad guys” who on some level deserve what they’re getting. But we were warned from the very beginning, were we not? And since Denis and Patrick were already creating a show that didn’t respect women, it stands to reason that they don’t necessarily respect women in their “real” lives either….  But there hasn’t really been any sign, yet, that the actual writers don’t feel the same way.  It’s not a deal breaker for me, per se, but it’s certainly a disappointment.

It does make me wonder, though…

If a show pre-emptively calls out or justifies its own flaws, does that somehow make them more forgivable?

I think it depends.

In this specific instance, I’m going to have to say “no”, because there are other shows out there that have handled the same issue (problematic portrayals of women, influenced by the protagonist’s point of view) much more skillfully.

The most recent and well-done example that springs to mind is Mr. Robot. When I started watching it, I was unimpressed for numerous reasons… but then somewhere around episode eight, I was forced to humbly admit that I was wrong, and it was brilliant. (Trying to keep this spoiler-free, in case any of you are late to the party on this one).

Can you guess which of these girls would drink on the train, based on wardrobe cues? OF COURSEDuring the episodes that take place pre-plot-twist, most of the female characters with more than two lines seem bizarrely flat and tropey. They are almost all women in need of rescue or protection – a drug addict with a heart of gold, an innocent girl-next-door, a professional who makes poor choices in love but ultimately has the protagonist’s best interests at heart. The only exceptions are a scheming Lady Macbeth figure who has weird, kinky sex with her husband and a Manic Pixie Dream Hacker who is oddly, quirkily familiar with the main character right off the bat, waltzing into his apartment uninvited, rifling through his things, etc.

What makes these portrayals acceptable is that viewers have been aware from the beginning that Elliot is an unreliable narrator. Over the course of one of the later episodes, many of these one-dimensional characters are revealed to be real humans with depth, competency and personality – we just didn’t see it that way because Elliot didn’t see it that way, and then we all learn together that he was mistaken. What looks like sloppy, lazy and slightly sexist writing is revealed to be a calculated trick, and the show sets us (and Elliot) right by the end of the season.

A similar argument can be made for the first season of True Detective, which yeah, graciously allows adult women to be one of three things: a mistress, a mother, or a victim. I’m inclined to be charitable and optimistic, and hope that this was purposeful, intentional misogyny, and not just an accident. As much of the season is “told” from the point of view of Woody Harrelson’s character, Marty, who holds fairly old-fashioned (sexist) opinions on women, it makes sense that we don’t see any … realistically portrayed women onscreen. Plus, Marty spends a sizable portion of this show estranged from his family – show-years, even – in part because of his lack of respect for women.

So far, and I’ll admit, I have two episodes to go, Série noire doesn’t look like it’s going to have any “aha!” moments where the characters and writers reveal that their portrayals of women were all wrong, nor will Denis and Patrick suffer any lasting consequences for their actions. The wrongs that have been committed against women for the sake of humour and plot development will be brushed aside as minor conveniences at worst.

All in all, though, I would still recommend this show. The moments where I laughed until I cried did outweigh the instances that gave me pause, and it’s always gratifying to see Montreal playing itself, walk-ups, canal, code-switching and all.

My next column is going to be a book – too much television rots the brain, you know – so…umm… stay tuned?

Photo 1 –  http://www.tvqc.com/2015/11/serie-noire-la-saison-2-disponible-sur-tou-tv/
Photo 2 – 
http://www.season1.fr/tombe-en-amour-pour-une-serie-noire/
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hoto 3 – 
http://www.dustimusprime.com/articles/review/mr-robot-episode-8-eps1-7_wh1ter0se-m4v/

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