Eliana Willis

Season 4, Episode 8: ‘The Nadir’It’s probably unfair to chide “Fargo” for ripping off a major set-piece from Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables” since De Palma himself has been knocked for ripping off Alfred Hitchcock. And the set-piece in question, a shootout at Chicago’s Union Station, nods to the famed Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin.” Nevertheless, the quotes around quotes around quotes somewhat diminish the impact of a show that can seem, at times, like a shallow pastiche without the undergirding of original ideas or thematic purposefulness. Its pleasures are mostly on the surface.But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For the most part, this episode was an entertaining jumble of loose ends and Plan Bs, full of characters who are scrambling to figure out how to act when their schemes have been blown up. With various subplots zipping every which way, there’s not any single unifying idea that binds the hour together, but at this point in the season, there’s just too much narrative business that needs to be resolved.For Loy Cannon, Plan A in his shocking decision to release Gaetano from custody was for Gaetano to attack his brother, which would have staved off a gangland war by allowing the Faddas to get eaten alive by their own dysfunction. It was a good plan because the tension between Gaetano and Josto has been genuinely destructive to the family — as I wrote last week, Josto is more a Fredo Corleone than a Michael, and Gaetano is more like Sonny, hot-tempered and impulsive. Their leadership issues seem to be the biggest obstacle to putting down the Cannons, who don’t have the manpower or the institutional connections to beat them directly.But Gaetano figures it out. Loy expected him to be so consumed with anger over Josto that he wouldn’t ask questions about why he was liberated. But the big lug thought it through and came to right conclusion. (Not that he didn’t get his licks in on Josto, mind.) So now the brothers are a united front — “I’m the lion, you’re the snake,” says Gaetano — and they can finally turn their attention to the Cannons rather than to a power struggle that has cleaved the family in half.There’s a little bit of nuance to their new arrangement, however: Gaetano acknowledges that Josto is the brains the operation, but he makes it clear, in their reunion, that he has the support of the rank-and-file. Only the consigliere, Ebal Violante, seems to side-eye the new arrangement.Loy has planned for this contingency, of course. When he hears of the Fadda brothers’ reconciliation, he has one word: “Fargo.” This is the payoff to the massive gun shipment he shuffled off to Mort Kellerman, the North Dakota mobster whom viewers of the second season will remember as a rival to the Gerhardt syndicate. (It does not go well for him.) And so, the FTU (Fargo Televisual Universe) has its Avengers moment in the final sequence as Kellerman’s gang descends on the Fadda manse. This is war, but it’s still not one that Loy cares to fight directly.Oraetta Mayflower has seemed like a good planner, too, but she doesn’t seem to have considered that Dr. Harvard might survive her poisoned macaroon, despite having collapsed inside an elite hospital. Upon hearing the news of his expected recovery, her only option is to find his room and finish the job, but she’s thwarted in that effort and makes herself conspicuous by asking around about him. Surely her relationship with one of the city’s mob bosses will come into play at this time of need, but she keeps Josto at arm’s length. She’ll happily play dominatrix in bed, but she has never been angrier this season than when Josto confesses to loving her.For the past few episodes, poor Odis had been batted around between the Faddas and the Cannons, all to the bemusement and consternation of Deafy, who knew for a long time that his liaison on the force was deeply compromised. Credit Odis, then, for having a plan of his own. Brought down to his lowest point, he makes a creditable plea for redemption from Deafy, and the good Mormon is convinced enough to bring him along on an operation to capture Zelmare and Swanee at Union Station. His hesitancy to leave the car is a clever piece of misdirection on the show’s part: We think he’s seized by fear and O.C.D. tendencies, but really he’s waiting for the dust to settle enough for him to gun down Deafy.The chaos that ensues from the Union Station operation — with Deafy and Swanee dead and Zelmare still on the loose — adds an encouraging volatility to the final batch of episodes this season. No one is in a comfortable spot here: Oraetta has to worry that Dr. Harvard will pursue attempted murder charges; Loy has to worry that the Faddas are finally uniting against him; the Faddas have to worry about Milligan; and everybody has to worry about Zelmare, who will surely be coming back to town, eager to settle some scores. Sounds like one or two more De Palma set pieces waiting to happen.3 Cent Stamps:No Coen references this week that I could see, other than acknowledging that Fargo exists. This season would simply be “Kansas City” otherwise.Josto’s involvement in local politics has been such an under-the-radar subplot that when he mentions to Oraetta that he’s getting married, the news is dropped so matter-of-factly that it’s as if he (and we) had nearly forgotten about it entirely.R.I.P. Deafy Wickware. It was nice to see Timothy Olyphant reprise his signature role as Raylan Givens in “Justified,” even if the Mormon makeover did him no favors. More

For television viewers under a certain age, there was never a “Jeopardy!” without Alex Trebek.Calm, steady and always with a twinkle in his eye, Mr. Trebek was a constant on the television screens of millions of people since he took over as host in 1984. After news broke that the game show host died on Sunday after battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, there was an outpouring of sadness from fans, ex-contestants and celebrities.“Alex Trebek was ‘Jeopardy!’,” said Monica Thieu, a contestant who won the college championship in 2012. “We have no idea what the show is going to be without him.”Mr. Trebek, who was 80 years old, had hosted more than 8,200 episodes, and more remain to be broadcast. The show said that Mr. Trebek’s last day in the studio was Oct. 29 and that the final new “Jeopardy!” episode with him as host will air on Dec. 25. The show has not divulged any plans that it has to appoint a new host.Ms. Thieu, 26, who also appeared on the show in 2013 and 2019, said that she revered Mr. Trebek as a child, going so far as to try to compete in the National Geographic Bee when she was in fourth grade so she could meet Mr. Trebek, who for many years hosted the annual contest (now the GeoBee) in Washington. “He made it cool to be smart,” she said.Mr. Trebek was equally admired by an older generation of contestants and game show lovers. For decades, the show has been a reliable staple in American pop culture, something viewers can turn on at the same time every weekday — and the silver-haired host was a key ingredient in that.Richard Cordray, a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion in the 1980s who went on to become the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said that part of what made the game show such a source of comfort for so many Americans was Mr. Trebek’s consistency as host.“In his elegant and gracious way, he always had the answer to every question,” he said.Ever since Mr. Trebek went public with his cancer diagnosis in March 2019, contestants have been vocal about their adoration and support for their host. In a show that aired in November of last year, shortly after Mr. Trebek revealed that he had resumed chemotherapy to treat the cancer, Mr. Trebek got choked up when one contestant wrote “What is ‘We love you, Alex!’” for his Final Jeopardy response.And at one match of the “Greatest of All Time” (or G.O.A.T.) tournament earlier this year, James Holzhauer, a record-setting “Jeopardy!” star, knew that he was too far behind to win, so he used his answer board to honor Trebek, calling him the “GHOST,” or “greatest host of syndicated TV.”Among the ex-contestants who have spent the most time onstage with Mr. Trebek is Ken Jennings, who captivated “Jeopardy!” fans with a 74-game winning streak in 2004 and went on to win the show’s “G.O.A.T” tournament. On Sunday, Mr. Jennings, who is a consulting producer on the current season of the show, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Trebek was a “deeply decent man” and said he was grateful for every minute that he got to spend with him.And in a country where even pop culture icons often attract ire from people with a certain political ideology, Mr. Trebek remained far outside the political fray.“In a time where the country feels deeply divided, Alex will be missed by everyone,” Mr. Holzhauer said in a statement on Sunday.On social media, there was a cascade of mourning from fellow television hosts and celebrities. Ryan Seacrest wrote on Twitter that Mr. Trebek was “like a family member who I watched every night.” Steve Harvey, who hosts “Family Feud,” called him “the classiest game show host of all time.” Jimmy Kimmel, referencing yesterday’s election results, quipped, “Couldn’t we have one nice weekend?”Mr. Trebek, who was born in Ontario and who started his career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, also received recognition from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, who said on Twitter that Mr. Trebek had been responsible for instilling a love of trivia in many.But Mr. Trebek’s celebrity was never flashy or self-centered. He had turned down offers to write a book until recently, when he published his memoir, “The Answer Is …: Reflections on My Life.” He said he planned to donate the money he got for the book.On the show itself, past contestants remember him as a consummate professional, treating all contestants with the same interest and respect when interacting with them. (That consistency made it all the more shocking when Mr. Trebek diverged from his usual politeness, like when he poked fun at a contestant’s love for a genre of music called “nerd-core hip-hop.”)“He was so committed to the show being about the contestants and not about him,” said Emma Boettcher, a contestant who ended Mr. Holzhauer’s winning streak last year. “But for a lot of us, what we remember about the show is his presence.”Jason Zuffranieri, who appeared as a contestant in 20 episodes of the show last year, said on Sunday that it was Mr. Trebek’s understated personality on camera and his dedication to the rules of the game that helped build the show’s credibility.“His ability to stay out of the way and always be fair elevated the audience’s impression of both the game and himself,” he said. “It takes a special person to do that.”Marie Fazio contributed reporting. More

Just over four years ago, “Saturday Night Live” invited Dave Chappelle to host its Nov. 12, 2016 broadcast — the show’s first after that year’s presidential election. The tacit assumption, at the time, was that he would be the master of ceremonies for an episode that would serve as both a satirical farewell to the long-shot candidacy of the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, and a victory lap for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.Needless to say, things didn’t work out that way.Even so, “S.N.L.” put together a memorable episode that weekend, one that began — for better or for worse — with Kate McKinnon, as Clinton, seated at a piano and singing a somber rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” (Cohen had died a few days earlier.) Turning to the camera, McKinnon said, “I’m not giving up and neither should you.”Chappelle, in his debut appearance as an “S.N.L.” host, acknowledged in a lengthy standup monologue that he had not expected Trump to win the election, and wondered what would happen to America now that “we’ve actually elected an internet troll as our president.” He went on to say that “I’m wishing Donald Trump luck. And I’m going to give him a chance, and we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one, too.”One presidential term later, “S.N.L.” gave Chappelle the chance to host a more exuberant episode — a broadcast that capped several protracted days of vote-counting and aired just a few hours after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. secured his victory.In another extended monologue that was variously comedic, reflective and deliberately provocative, Chappelle reflected upon his 2016 appearance and reminded Biden supporters that “it’s good to be a humble winner.”“Remember when I was here four years ago?” he said. “Remember how bad that felt? Remember that half the country, right now, still feels that way.”In an extraordinarily divisive time, Americans must “find a way to forgive each other,” Chappelle said.A ‘Macho Man’ DepartsThis week’s episode opened with a sketch that began as a lampoon of CNN’s election coverage, with Beck Bennett as a weary Wolf Blitzer and Alex Moffat as John King, whose fingers had been worn down to nubs from using touch-screen maps for 85 hours.They announced that the presidency had been won by Biden and then brought out Jim Carrey in that recurring role.“We did it,” Carrey said as Biden. “Can you believe it? I honestly kind of can’t. It’s been so long since something good happened.”He added, “I’ve never felt so alive, which is ironic since I’m not that alive.”He was joined by Maya Rudolph, reprising her role as Kamala Harris, now the Vice President-elect. “I am humbled and honored to be the first female, the first Black, the first Indian-American and the first biracial Vice President,” Rudolph said. Noting that she had a Jewish husband, she added, “Between us, we check more boxes than a disqualified ballot.”The sketch also included a would-be concession speech from President Trump, played by Alec Baldwin. Speaking to the camera, Baldwin said, “I vow to all my supporters, I’m going to fight this thing to the bitter end. I will never give up and neither should you.”In a callback to McKinnon’s performance four years ago, Baldwin stood up, walked to a piano and began to sing a mournful cover of the Village People’s “Macho Man.”“This isn’t goodbye, America,” Baldwin said. “I’m just going to say, see you in court.”‘I don’t hate anybody’Chappelle began his monologue by talking about his great-grandfather William D. Chappelle, who was an A.M.E. Church bishop and president of Allen University in Columbia, S.C., and who was born a slave. Observing that his sketch series “Chappelle’s Show” now runs on Netflix and HBO Max, Chappelle said, “I didn’t get paid for any of it.” He added that he wondered if his great-grandfather would think that he “got bought and sold more than I have.”Inevitably, Chappelle worked his way back to the topic of Trump. “I know a lot of people don’t like him, but I thought the guy was at least an optimist.” Chappelle said. “I am not as optimistic as he was. I look at it like, there’s bad people on both sides.” When he heard Trump refer to the coronavirus as “the kung flu,” Chappelle explained, “I said, you racist, hilarious son of a bitch — I’m supposed to say it, not you. It’s wrong when you say it.”Nearing the end of his monologue, Chappelle struck a more sympathetic tone. “For the first time in the history of America, the life expectancy of white people is dropping — because of heroin, because of suicide,” he said. “All these white people out there that feel that anguish, that pain, they’re mad because they think nobody cares — maybe they don’t.”Chappelle continued:But let me tell you something, I know how that feels. I promise you, I know how that feels. If you’re a police officer and every time you put your uniform on, you feel like you’ve got a target on your back. You’re appalled by the ingratitude that people have when you would risk your life to save them — ooh man, believe me, believe me, I know how that feels. Everyone knows how that feels. But here’s the difference between me and you: You guys hate each other for that, and I don’t hate anybody. I just hate that feeling. That’s what I fight through. That’s what I suggest you fight through. You’ve got a find a way to live your life. You’ve got to find a way to forgive each other. You’ve got to find a way to find joy in your existence in spite of that feeling.And now a word from the president’s attorneyMcKinnon returned to the Weekend Update desk as Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, to explain a combative news conference held earlier that day at the Four Seasons — not the luxury hotel, but a landscaping company in northeast Philadelphia with that same name.“I’m glad I made it to the show on time, because first I went to 30 Rocks,” McKinnon said. “That’s a granite quarry in New Rochelle.”Explaining a plan to raise further legal challenges to the election, McKinnon said, “In Michigan, we have demanded a recount. In Wisconsin, we have demanded a de-count. We called backsies in Nevada, we’ve got safety in Arizona and in Georgia: opposite day. Plus, we’re going to demand that I do the recount personally and our silver bullet is, I can’t count very high.”As she wrapped up, McKinnon said, “I’m off to the Peninsula.” The Update anchor Colin Jost asked her if she meant the hotel.“No, the Yucatán,” McKinnon replied as she put on a sombrero. “You never saw me.”‘The whole world is celebrating’Jost and Michael Che devoted much of the Weekend Update segment to riffing on Biden’s victory and Trump’s defeat.“This is what happened when people in New York heard that Donald Trump was defeated,” Jost said, setting up a video of public celebrations in New York. “But you know what they say, only in New York. What’s that? Oh, it wasn’t only in New York?” A second video showed celebrations in Washington, Atlanta, Philadelphia, London and Paris.“The whole world is celebrating like World War II just ended,” Jost continued. “I know this isn’t really the same as defeating the Nazis, but it did end with a fascist leader hiding in a bunker.” A photograph showed Trump golfing in a sand trap.Che said the election results gave him a powerful, if temporary sense of relief. “Everything that I was worried about or mad about just sort of faded away,” he said.“The problems are still there, but you remember that “Shawshank” scene when the dudes are drinking beer on the roof?” he continued. “They were still in prison, but for one day, everything just felt OK? That’s how I feel now.”A sketch for the ’90s kidsA sketch presented as a Washington-area news broadcast began with its hosts, Chappelle and Ego Nwodim, reminding their viewers that when Trump leaves office, “he’s a suddenly a private citizen,” Chappelle said.“There’s no immunity,” he said. “He will have to deal with a tax fraud investigation from the Southern District of New York as well as a defamation lawsuit from a woman who claims he assaulted her.”Suddenly a breaking news alert flashed on the screen and the scene cut to familiar footage of a white Ford Bronco speeding across a highway, taken from O.J. Simpson’s notorious low-speed chase through Los Angeles in 1994. The newscasters explained that Trump was in the car, “crouching down in the back seat and Don Jr. is at the wheel,” Chappelle said.As police vehicles pursued close behind, Nwodim asked Chappelle, “Why don’t they just pull him over?” Chappelle answered, “Well, this is a volatile situation. If they spook the president, he could unleash an army of Proud Boys in flag-waving trucks.”“He’s like Aquaman,” he said. “But instead of fish, he can summon the entire parking lot of a Cracker Barrel.” More

Amr Alfiky/The New York Times“What a year this week has been,” said every American every week of 2020. But this was election week, and a long one at that, so the phrase has maybe never been more accurate.To infuse a little levity, here are highlights from this week’s late-night talk shows → More

Season 2, Episode 2: ‘The Passenger’A big part of what makes the “Star Wars” universe so enchanting is that all its crazy creatures, robots and spacecraft have a real physical presence on-screen. Starting with the first movie in 1977, the Lucasfilm effects team has worked magic with practical effects, creating worlds where the vehicles sputter and shake, the droids creak and clank, and the aliens cast imposing shadows. Everyone and everything seems bound by the laws of gravity. That makes the action sequences more nail-biting and gives the comedy more slapstick sting.This week’s episode, is pretty much 40 minutes of chase scenes and fights, interrupted by some of the series’s funniest gags to date. Directed by Peyton Reed (best-known for the buoyant teen comedy “Bring It On” and the wonderfully imaginative Marvel movie “Ant-Man”) and written by Jon Favreau, this chapter is a charmer, primarily because so many of its thrills and jokes are rooted in that essential “Star Wars” physicality: from the bulky enormity of Mando’s ship to the adorable tininess of the Child.If nothing else, this episode compensates for the Season 2 premiere’s relative lack of Baby Yoda by filling nearly every spare second with adorable toddling and cute reaction shots.Sometimes, Reed and Favreau build exciting TV out of almost nothing. In the opening sequence, the Mandalorian and the Child are speeding back to Mos Eisley when they get waylaid by bandits. This sequence features a lot of the lo-fi props, effects and stunts that make the “Star Wars” universe so believable, as real ropes and hunks of metal fly at characters’ heads.The scene then ends with some good, dry goofing as Mando trades his jetpack to the Child’s would-be kidnapper before remotely activating the device and sending the bad guy hurtling to his doom. The fatal crash happens deep in the background — like seeing Wile E. Coyote fall to the bottom of a canyon in a Road Runner cartoon.Mando looks at the Child and shrugs. Then the pack settles gently to the ground near our hero before abruptly flopping over. It’s the perfect punchline.In a broad sense, one could argue this whole scene is unnecessary given that it has very little to do with the rest of the episode (beyond reinforcing the idea that the Child is still in grave danger). But it’s a hoot, and it sets the tone for the next half-hour of derring-do and deadpan comedy.Most of the episode is about an assignment Din Djarin takes as a favor to Peli Motto. A humanoid frog-beast — referred to only as “the passenger” or as “frog lady” — has a jar of her eggs to take to a new planet, where her husband is waiting to fertilize them and save their species. The catch is that Mando’s ship, the Razor Crest, can’t go into hyperspace on the trip, lest the jump scramble those eggs (so to speak). So they have to creep along, avoiding pirates and warlords.There are further complications. For one thing, Din can’t understand a word his passenger says. For another, the Child takes one look at her giant jar of unfertilized eggs and sees a bunch of delicious snacks. Reed and Favreau adeptly blend the genuine tension of the passenger’s situation — as she strives to preserve and protect the last of her kind — with the darkly comic sight of Baby Yoda’s occasionally sneaking a hand into the jar and popping one of the eggs into his little mouth. (By the end of the episode, he seems to have depleted about a third of the stock. And then he eats one more, in a hilarious pre-credits stinger.)The biggest problem the crew faces is that they run into a couple of X-wing pilots representing the nascent Republic. Because the Mandalorian has outstanding warrants — and because he’s not sure he can trust the new folks in charge — he escapes to the nearest planet in a white-knuckle chase that has him swooping through canyons and hiding in an icy cave.From there, everything quickly goes hinky. The Razor Crest cracks through the ice and falls into a lower chamber of the caverns. And that’s where the spider-monsters attack.The payoff to “The Passenger” is a bit like the end to a shaggy dog story. Just when the Mandalorian’s ship is about to be overrun by thousands of these spider things — including one nearly the size of the ship — the Republic patrol finally catches up with its quarry, blasts the creepy-crawlies to smithereens and gives Mando the space-cop equivalent of, “We’re going to let you off with a warning, but be sure to get your taillight fixed.”It wouldn’t be a stretch to find a theme in all this breathless action and arch humor. The passenger has offspring to protect, just as the Mandalorian has the Child, the big spider boss has its throng (which also hatch from eggs) and the Republic has its fledgling government. Everything of value is fragile.But let’s be honest: What makes this episode so fun is that it feels like playtime. This is Reed, Favreau, the cast and the crew having a blast dreaming up cool “Star Wars” scenes and making them look as polished and realistic as a Ralph McQuarrie painting. It’s pure, pulp, made with love and care.This Is the WayFor anyone who wondered what the Mandalorian was going to do with the big hunk of dragon meat he secured to his speeder last week: In this episode he delivers it to Peli Motto, who has her droids roast it. (But not too much. She likes her dragon medium-rare.)When Mando sidles into a Mos Eisley cantina to find Peli, she’s in the middle of a game with a giant bug she alternately calls “Dr. Mandible” and “Zorak.” Assuming that neither of those is the creature’s real name, the implication of her “Zorak” crack is that “Space Ghost” exists in the “Star Wars” universe.The effects team really plays up the frog-ness of the passenger, especially when the spider-things come creeping in as she’s bathing in a spring. She quickly uses her prehensile tongue to grab her bundle of clothes, then when she can’t flee fast enough on two legs she gets down on all fours and hops.Whenever I watch “The Mandalorian” with my wife and kids, the thing that freaks us out most is whenever anyone lets go of the Child and he tumbles to the ground. We all scream at the screen simultaneously, “Do not drop Baby Yoda!” More

Audiobook: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’I’ve been listening to the audiobook of “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, N.Y. The author’s steady, reassuring voice is the perfect vehicle to learn about the possibilities for a more reciprocal relationship between industrialized humans and the natural world. More

Al Roker, the co-host and weatherman of NBC’s “Today” show for more than 20 years, has prostate cancer, he revealed on Friday, announcing he would briefly leave the program for treatment.Mr. Roker, 66, shared the news during the show’s morning broadcast. He said he learned of the cancer after a routine medical checkup in September when his doctor found an elevated prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in his blood work. A subsequent M.R.I. and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.He said he wanted to share the news publicly to highlight that prostate cancer is common, saying that one in seven African-American men receive the diagnosis in their lifetime.“It’s a good news, bad news kind of thing,” he said during the broadcast. “The good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.”Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, according to the American Cancer Society. About one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during his lifetime, the organization said. About six cases in 10 are diagnosed in men who are 65 years old and up, and the average age of diagnosis is 66.“If you detect it early, this is a really treatable disease, and it’s why I wanted to take you along my journey so we can all learn together how to educate and protect the men in our lives,” Mr. Roker said.He said he would have surgery next week to have his prostate removed by Dr. Vincent Laudone.“Fortunately, his cancer appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate,” Dr. Laudone said on the show. “But because it’s more aggressive, we wanted to treat it and we settled on removing the prostate.”Mr. Roker said, “We’ll just wait and see, and hopefully in about two weeks, I’ll be back.”Viewers have followed Mr. Roker’s weather reports, special features and amiable morning banter on the “Today” show since 1996, as well as previous medical treatments. He had surgeries on his right shoulder, left hip and right knee in the last four years, according to NBC. During his long tenure on morning TV, he has become a familiar fixture in many homes, reporting on the daily weather, natural disasters and the Olympics, co-hosting holiday specials and writing several books. More