Are these the worst Traitors we've seen?

Here goes with my first attempt at a roundup of brief musings about the newest episodes of the television I’ve watched over the previous week, though I may occasionally include a tidbit about the show I’m rewatching or any of the films I choose to enjoy on a rare occasion. As the winter schedule has only just started to defrost after the usual holiday hiatus, this one is a bit lighter, but that’s probably for the best as I decide how exactly I want to be doing this moving forward. Anyway, on with the show…

Will Trent

Finally, ABC’s Will Trent has returned. The last season ended on a rather jaw-dropping note, as Will (Ramon Rodriguez) arrested Angie (Erika Christensen) for her many—in my opinion, justified—crimes before deciding to skip town. So, I have been incredibly curious as to how the story would move forward with Angie’s future as a police officer, and on the show in general, left in question, while the on-and-off-again romance between childhood friends Will and Angie seems to be off permanently now.

Although relying on some of my least favorite tropes, I was pleasantly surprised by the Season 3 premiere. Not only is Will incredibly handsome with some stubble and a less buttoned-up look, but he’s clearly experienced some much-needed individual growth while living in Tennessee, despite running from his problems and loved ones in Atlanta. Already, he no longer seems ashamed of his dyslexia, opting to use an application on his phone to assist him when necessary (and improving his Spanish skills in the process). I hope we see much more of this Will moving forward, even after he returns to the GBI, as it’s nice to see him sort of let his hair down and simply be who he is rather than trying to be the picture-perfect person he presents to the world.

The episode itself is quite funny, too. Everyone throwing things at Will because he ditched them all with no explanation and didn’t reach out even once was a nice bit, and Will’s fight with Rafael (Kevin Daniels) was honestly hilarious. So, aside from Gina Rodriguez’s presence as a new series regular, everything about this opener worked well, offering a very strong and promising start to the series’ longest season yet.

High Potential

Honestly, this was not the strongest return for ABC’s High Potential, which has been a favorite of mine. While the character work and relationship development have been rather exceptional, including this week’s outing, the series is really struggling with writing interesting cases for the team to explore. The way these cases are presented, and specifically how Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) uses her intelligence to assist, often leaves you wondering how this team solved a single case or got anything done without her around. It’s becoming a bit distracting as Morgan and occasionally Lieutenant Soto (Judy Reyes) seem to be the only competent folks in that building.

That said, I did enjoy the small but meaningful moment and subsequent development between Morgan and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) as he revealed that he had been engaged to a woman previously but never married because of his commitment to his work. I wish more focus would be devoted to exploring the other characters on the team because it’s a bit ridiculous that we’re eight episodes in and still know almost nothing about Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz). Hopefully, the remaining five episodes of the season will be much stronger than this, which seems promising as the investigation into Roman is the most exciting thing the characters are working on. In fact, I’m growing a bit suspicious of Morgan’s new love interest Tom (JD Pardo) and wondering whether he may be involved in that cold case, particularly after his new comments about doing some things in the past that he’s not proud of. He’s too good and far too likable, so there has to be a catch, right?

Lastly, and it must be said, Morgan declaring their “dead” victim on the beach was actually alive was a bit too much. There have to be better methods of showcasing her knowledge and skills.

Happy’s Place

Is anyone else watching Happy’s Place with Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman? I’m not sure I’ve ever watched the entirety of Reba, but I loved watching an occasional episode as a kid, so I jumped at the chance to watch this reunion. Though not connected to the Reba series, Happy’s Place masterfully captures the chemistry between McEntire and Peterman as Bobbie and Gabby, respectively, as they share in the goings-on at the titular bar with the rest of the fantastic ensemble cast.

The series, like any should, also does well at digging into some heavy emotions while still delivering laughs. How could it not when the entire premise revolves around Bobbie discovering her late and beloved father had an affair and another daughter, Isabella (Belissa Escobedo), that nobody ever knew about, who now owns part of the bar that was supposed to be her inheritance? While not must watch viewing by any means, this sitcom is hitting all of the right notes, and one of the best parts of my week is turning this show on and relaxing with the team.

The Traitors (US)

At long last, Peacock’s The Traitors—and its overrated host (sorry, not sorry, but I prefer Claudia from the UK version)—is back for its third season. I have been on the edge of my seat since it was announced that Big Brother’s Britney Haynes (my favorite player of all time) would be entering the castle. After watching these initial three episodes, I have many conflicting thoughts and haven’t really worked out how I feel about this season’s twists yet. With three additional players entering the castle after the start of the game, couldn’t at least one of them have been a woman? It’s kind of ironic that, before this twist was revealed, the series was already showcasing some major misogyny during that first mission. Also, I’m not liking this twist to sending additional players in after the game has started (unless it’s the iconic Kate Chastain again as a running gag because I adore her). It throws everything off, and not in a good way.

Secondly, I’m a bit surprised at how poorly Danielle Reyes and Bob the Drag Queen are performing as Traitors thus far. While I’m somewhat unfamiliar with those chosen to be the Traitors, I’ve heard and read about Danielle’s magnificent Big Brother gameplay and how she unjustly lost her season, so I expected great things from her specifically. However, she and Bob are overdoing it with their performances in front of the Faithful. The fake tears, outrage, and so-called sacrifices are noticeably over-the-top, and Bob’s talking himself into the spotlight during the roundtables. It’s no surprise whatsoever that some are already catching onto them.

Honestly, based on her personality before the pick, I expected that Carolyn Wiger would be struggling the most as a Traitor but she’s the only one making sense (until Boston Rob Mariano joins them). Although annoyed as I was that she suggested killing Britney during one of their meetings, as I admit I am completely biased in Britney’s favor and rooting for her to win above all else, Carolyn has her finger on the pulse about how the Traitors should be moving forward and the right idea about the targets to pick off. Unfortunately, she’s been overruled by her fellow Traitors, and Boston Rob isn’t looking to cause issues yet. (Also, did everyone forget why they chose not to let Rob into the game? How did his name not come up before that second banishment?)

On the other hand, how messy these Traitors are and how poorly they’re performing as a group is somewhat enjoyable, too. Hell, Danielle and Carolyn got into a small fight before they had finished their first meeting, which must be a new record across every single version of this series. At the end of the third episode, all four of them did a terrible job as they attempted to stealthily come together in plain sight to choose the three people to put on their shortlist for murder. Even in the hidden room, it seems they were overheard, and everyone noticed them wandering around each room and making up excuses to leave beforehand. If any of the players are actual fans of the show (which is my biggest issue with the all-celebrity cast), they would instantly clock that behavior.

Well, that’s all for this time. Notably, I did decide not to include The Sex Lives of College Girls, as I’m wondering if my thoughts might be better suited for a post-finale review, and I binge-watched the entirety of Silo Season 2 weeks ago so, again, post-finale.