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Melanie McFarland (page 40)

Melanie McFarland is Salon's award-winning senior culture critic. Follow her on Bluesky: @McTelevision

Ed Helms as Nathan Rutherford, Michael Greyeyes as Terry Tarbell, and Jana Schmieding as Reagan Wells in "Rutherford Falls" (Photo illustration by Salon/Justin Stephens/Peacock)

In comedy “Rutherford Falls,” Ed Helms is a nice guy who prefers the myth of his whitewashed history

Melanie McFarland
Kate Winslet in "Mare of Easttown" (HBO)

With HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” come for the murder but stay for Kate Winslet and Jean Smart

Melanie McFarland
Tashira, Dr. Orna Guralnik and Dru in "Couples Therapy" (Showtime)

“Couples Therapy” is back with “something almost miraculous” born from our shared crisis

Melanie McFarland
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson (aka Falcon) in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (Chuck Zlotnick/Disney+/Marvel Studios)

The forging of a Black Captain America by battling supremacy in “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”

Melanie McFarland
Mason Temple and Antonia Gentry in "Ginny & Georgia" (Netflix)

Let’s have a cringey talk about multiracial identity, from “Ginny & Georgia” to Harry and Meghan

Melanie McFarland
"Diane" and Ray Romano in "Made for Love" (HBO Max)

“Made For Love” and the twist ending that asks what we’ll compromise for technology

Melanie McFarland
Laura Donnelly in "The Nevers" (Keith Bernstein/HBO)

“The Nevers” is nothing more than a recycled Victorian version of every Joss Whedon show you’ve seen

Melanie McFarland
Them (Amazon)

Scare goes the neighborhood in Amazon’s “Them,” where trauma porn collides with our visceral reality

Melanie McFarland
Danielle Brooks in "Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia" (Lifetime)

In Lifetime’s joyful “Mahalia,” Danielle Brooks’ song and fury triumphs over a tepid script

Melanie McFarland
Jenna Coleman and Tahar Rahim in "The Serpent" (Netflix)

“The Serpent” is Netflix’s seductive serial killer drama that ultimately lacks legs

Melanie McFarland
Made For Love (HBO)

Dark comedy “Made for Love” is a “Black Mirror”-lite tale of bad romance turned sociopathic

Melanie McFarland
Trevor Noah from the Daily (Social Distancing) Show, James Corden from the Late Late Show and Samantha Bee from Full Frontal (Photo illustration by Salon/CBS/Comedy Central/TBS)

How late night adjusted – and became weirder and more creative – after a pandemic year

Melanie McFarland
Tina Turner in concert in Versailles, France, 1990 (Getty Images/HBO)

HBO’s celebratory Tina Turner doc gives her the final word on the woman behind the iconic name

Melanie McFarland
Marriage Or Mortgage (Netflix)

Netflix’s “Marriage or Mortgage” invites us to look back at a time when bad decisions were a luxury

Melanie McFarland
Aretha Franklin, played by Cynthia Erivo, recording at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. (National Geographic/Richard DuCree)

Capturing how Aretha Franklin could “alchemize her pain into sonic gold”

Melanie McFarland
Justice League: Snyder Cut (Photo is courtesy of HBO Max)

Oh the humanity! “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” wasn’t necessary, but it brought what Whedon lacked

Melanie McFarland
Q: Into the Storm (HBO Max)

HBO’s QAnon series “Q: Into the Storm” is a bewildering attempt to decode a super-conspiracy

Melanie McFarland
Cynthia Erivo in "Genius: Aretha" (NatGeo / Hulu)

“Aretha” crowns the Queen of Soul in glory, thanks to star Cynthia Erivo’s own genius

Melanie McFarland
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (Chuck Zlotnick/Disney+)

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” explodes with action and hints at probing America’s identity

Melanie McFarland
The Bachelor (ABC)

Between “The Bachelor” finale and “The Talk,” reality TV has shown us the toll of ignoring racism

Melanie McFarland
Matthew Modine as William "Rick" Singer in "Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal" (Adam Rose/Netflix)

Matthew Modine (and his wig) star in Netflix’s diverting “College Admissions” true crime recreation

Melanie McFarland
The Real World & The Real World Homecoming: New York (Photo illustration by Salon/MTV/Paramount+)

“The Real World Homecoming: New York” is a beautiful suspension bridge between past and present

Melanie McFarland
Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Sharon Osbourne’s meltdown defense of Piers Morgan was a live lesson in misogynoir

Melanie McFarland
South ParQ Vaccination Special (Comedy Central)

The “South ParQ Vaccination Special” fails to be funny – but maybe that’s the point

Melanie McFarland
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