Assume It Will Be Brilliant

In this episode we enter our sci-fi era as we discuss two recently released Sci-Fi shows, the space thriller Constellation (AppleTV) & the promised alien invasion hit, 3 Body Problem (Netflix). We explore the different themes in each, our “non-sciency” understanding of both, which admittedly is limited, and more importantly our views on whether they succeeded in achieving their goal of producing really good and compelling television. It may be new territory for the pod as we begin this journey of science fiction and some of our views may be controversial (based on the audience reviews we’ve seen) but what can we say? We’ve got high standards. We also give our recommendations of other sci-fi shows for your viewing pleasure. Stick around for our 3min review of the smash hit film, Dune Part II. Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we cover Prime Video's reimagining of the 2005 hit comedy/action film Mr & Mrs Smith starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. This time the spies-turned-married-couple plot line comes to us as a sleek and simmering slow burn romantic dramedy thats lighter on the spy action of it all and heavy on the tension and relational dynamics where awkward comedic moments get to shine. We discuss our favorite scenes, the all important element of chemistry, and the behind the scenes writing and acting choices that might have lead to different kind of show. We hope you enjoy! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

Hello AWIBBers! We are (almost) back with Season 4 which we are so excited about - but for now please enjoy our reality TV offering for 2024 with special guest Dona! In this episode we discuss all the shenanigans and shenanidont's that took place on Love Is Blind Season 6 - we hope you enjoy! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week, we rewind through our season and re-evaluate some of our initial hot takes on shows such as as Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netlflix) and Insecure (HBO). We also emphasize just how deeply manufactured the reality tv show industrial complex is such that we should be careful to rely on even our own interpretation of events. Finally, we get excited about the show we are going to discuss in our podcast season finale next week! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

*TRIGGER & CONTENT WARNING* This episode includes discussions of sexual harassment & assault of women and children in religious spaces.  This week we’re back in our documentary era and there’s lots to learn. We’re taking a look at the religious institutions that captured the hearts and minds of millions as we discuss the documentaries Shiny Happy People (Prime Video) & The Secrets of Hillsong (FX). Shiny Happy People follows the meteoric rise of the fundamentalist conservative Duggar family and their impact in popular culture and politics, as well as their formation in the quasi religious structure of the IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles) which has negatively impacted many people who have since left with countless stories of sexual, physical, and financial abuse. The Secrets of Hillsong  follows the rise & fall of Hillsong Church in the USA & marginally in Australia following countless scandals involving financial & sexual impropriety, and the abuse of power by its leaders.  We also touch on the similarities of these docs with one of favourite movies of 2022, Women Talking. We discuss the harmful effects of unchecked power and the ways in which cultures that demand purity and complete submission to ‘authority’ in a strict hierarchical culture, all but guarantees conditions conducive to the abuse of its weakest members. This one is illuminating.  Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

Welcome to our late-season hiatus, where per tradition, we interrupt your regularly scheduled television commentary to bring you a little more of us. This week we are once again catching up and checking in on where we are in our lives and reflecting specifically on the nature of relationships - the work to takes to nurture and grow into them, the challenge of transitioning out of them, and how tricky it can be to find balance and have appropriate expectations. Among other things, we cover how strange it is that when we fall in love we see conflict as a relationship killer when in fact its exactly what we should expect, and the crucial nature of repair. Ultimately, we conclude that life is 🥴 😵‍💫 but we can practice holding compassion for ourselves and others, giving grace, and surrendering to the multiplicity of all that is within and around us (which is not to say you can’t also be a “number 1 hater” like Nomsa or a “number 1 avoidant” like Portia.  We hope you enjoy! Our recommendations:  Book - What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo Video - Ester Perel on holding polarity in couples Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens  - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we cover the ‘trials and tribulations’ of the Roy family in HBO’s brilliantly executed, four season hit show, Succession. We do the hard but rewarding work of trying to decide who our favorite narcissist is (if you haven’t already, check out Dr. Ramani’s season 4 episode recaps on Youtube!) and share our thoughts about why you can't run a family like a corporation and expect a good outcome. We are definitely going miss these dysfunctional characters, their painfully cringey and emotionally distorted bids for love, and every absurd shenanigan they got into. Cheers 🥂 Jesse Armstrong and Co. because wow what a show!  We hope you enjoy! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliantpod  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we're "rooting for everybody Black!" as the great Issa Rae once said. We talk about her Iconic, one-of-a-kind, groundbreaking show Insecure (HBO). Not only did this show mark the beginning of a renaissance in Black Television, it was also hella funny, filled with storylines that the black community had long needed to witness on the screen, and repped hard for South L.A. both in music and in fashion! This was such a pleasure for us to record and we hope that you catch those vibes too when you listen! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliant Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

As Shondaland Stans we are back this week with a full run down on Shonda's latest offering - Bridgerton prequel Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netlflix). The show depicts a love story for the ages based on the real life royal couple Queen Charlotte (born Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz of Germany) and King George III that the creators note “is not a history lesson" but "fiction inspired by fact.” In this episode, relatively heated debate abounds as we discuss how the show depicts loving through mental illness, racial politics amongst the elite, and the status and strategies of women navigating marriage in this fictional Regency era. We had fun watching this beautifully made show and even more talking about it. Let us know what you think! Instagram: @assumeitwillbebrilliant Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we close our discussion of season 4 of Love is Blind (Netflix) with a specific focus on the hot mess express that was the Reunion finale. We skip right over the fact that it failed at it's promise to be the first reunion broadcast 'live' and get right into the all the missed opportunities and disappointing lines of questioning we had endure at the hands of hosts, Nick and Vanessa Lachey. Are we really gonna let Kwame get away his well rehearsed (but there's a lot left unsaid) apology?; Why is Irina the only mean girl catching heat when Micah is also sitting right next to her?; Did we just witness the live (but not really) gaslighting of Paul?; That's ALL you have to say to Jackie while you cruelly dump on Marshall again!?; Vanessa why are you trying to get everyone pregnant? .... We ask all these important questions and more as we contemplate whether the commitment to fairytale premise of the show gets in the way of making this show in a way that is both entertaining and ethical in its care and treatment of the participants. Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we finally discuss our all time favorite legal drama The Good Fight (Paramount+) whose sixth and final season aired last November. A spinoff of the long running legal/political Drama The Good Wife (CBS), the show follows Diane Lockhart (played by the wonderful Christine Baranski) as she transitions into working for a prestigious and Black owned law firm alongside her friend and colleague Liz Reddick (played by the glorious Aurdra McDonald). We discuss the ways in which this overtly political show defied and pushed the boundaries of genre, and with great creativity, used its extremely current storylines and plots to make incisive, sometimes controversial, but always appropriately complex social commentary - including on realities as big and thorny as the rise in white supremacy. In this episode we make the bold claim "If TV could save lives, The Good Fight would" - we love this show that much and we hope you enjoy the episode. Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

Portia & Nomsa are back for season 3! In this episode we welcome the listeners back too and catch-up you up on what we've been up to since the end of season 2 and what we are looking forward to and hoping for in this new year. We then immediately get into what shows we are currently watching (You, Last of Us, Shrinking, Physical 100, Survivor...and as always Grey's Anatomy ) or waiting to watch (Yellowjackets, Succession, Ted Lasso). There’s also an interesting discussion on what we would & wouldn’t do to stop the apocalypse… perhaps the world needs other heroes for that one. Please note we have a new publication. Please find our new episodes out every THURSDAY going forward! Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

It's the final episode of season 2 of AIWBB!  It is always bittersweet to say goodbye but we are at least doing so with a heavy emphasis on the 'sweet'  because we close out this season with an in depth discussion of one of the best family drama's of the last decade - This is Us (NBC). We discuss the excellent, detailed, time travelling, and deeply but not overly sentimental storytelling that made the show so popular, as well as all the delft and honest ways in which issues like race and adoption (as well as their intersection) were handled. Whether you're an R&B (Randall & Beth) or KaToby (Kate & Toby) stan, or maybe you were just in it for Jack's Zaddy vibes, and definitely if you tuned in for your weekly cry whenever the show was airing, then this is the episode for you.  Thank you for sticking with us this season! As always, we hope you enjoy! Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens  - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

In this episode, we are bringing you some fun and funny as we are joined by a special guest - Maureen, but you can call her 'Mo', to dish about the trials and tribulations of dating. We share some grand gestures we've enjoyed, and tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about some of the worst dates we've been on. All of us are the victims and the villains in this one (though some more than others though). Mo recommends an old British show we should all watch called My Mad Fat Diary (E4). For a real treat, stick around to the end to hear Mo's story about the 'book thief' and why you shouldn't let anyone try to colonize your book shelf.  Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

On this week’s episode we’re catching up and checking in on where we are in our lives and reflecting on what it really means to live our own lives while having grace for ourselves and for the people around us. We also tell you what we've been watching lately -or thinking about watching and recommend some shows for your viewing pleasure. For TV shows we discuss: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Prime Video), The Boys (Prime Video), Obi-Wan (Disney+), Ms Marvel (Disney+), Conversations with Friends (Hulu), and The Time Traveller's Wife (HBO) in TV shows. For movies and documentaries, we talk about the J.Lo documentary Halftime (Netflix), George Carlin's American Dream (HBO Max), Hustle (Netflix), The Man From Toronto (Netflix), Turning Red (Disney+), and Bao (Disney+). Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens  - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

In this week’s episodes, we discuss the Netflix documentary series Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey about the polygamous (or Plural Marriage as they would call it) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), which Wikipedia refers to as "a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism" and its current leader Warren S. Jeffs. We discuss the function of fear and power in high control groups and how women and children are subjugated and objectified within these groups while also being necessary to sustain them. Trigger Warning: references are made to underage and marital rape. It's a heavy discussion but it's an important. We encourage you to listen to the end and be inspired by the words of 16th Century Poet Aemelia Lanyer, who was the first woman to assert herself as a professional poet. Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This week we’re discussing the social utility of dark teen shows by looking at shows like Euphoria (HBO), 13 Reasons Why (Netflix), Cruel Summer (Hulu), The WildS (Prime Video )and the movie The Fallout (HBO Max) to name a few. Is there a purpose in the depiction of heavy subject matter as it relates to teens or do these shows take it too far? Listen as we share our thoughts with our special guest, Daeyna. We hope you enjoy! Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

In this episode, we stop procrastinating and finally cover the goings on at Grey Sloan Memorial over the last few months. We deep dive and get into all things season 18, the good, the bad, and the deeply frustrating - Why are Teddy and Owen on the lam!?! and didn’t we decide to stop with the fever dream sequences!? . We give you our rating and hope you’ll share yours with us! As always, please enjoy! Music:  Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

This episode is all about the female powerhouses at the centre of contemporary prestige television and all the different types of feminist storytelling across a whole lot of streaming services. We start off by covering Roar (an anthology series on Apple TV) and discuss it's visually impressive and folkloric take on issues related to womanhood, and close off with a discussion about The First Lady (political drama streaming on Showtime), Gaslit (political thriller streaming on Starz), and Russian Doll (on Netflix),. Other notable mentions we give a shout out to are Candy(on Hulu) and Shining Girls (on Apple TV). As always, we hope you enjoy! Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18

NSFW content warning! In this episode we have a special guest, Betty, who wants everyone to know that she is more than just 'the p***s girl' because that is what this episode is all about. Where has the mysterious D been hidden all our TV lives long and why does it feel like there is an unequal and exploitative nature in visual storytelling as it pertains to the female body? We take a look at the TV show Minx that is currently streaming on HBO Max and phew!! strap in (or on?)! because this one is a fun, funny and unexpectedly deep and philosophical discussion about all of our bodies, our disconnection from them, the taboos/shame around and upon them, and what our reconnection to them could mean for our collective liberation. As always, enjoy! Music: Humblux - S.H.E. Cali Greens - Artillery (Extended Clip) 8, 14, and 18