Consortium of Seven: Year 4

        Back in the middle of April I noted that the final week of May would see me bidding farewell to several sets of variously endeared characters, as several series would have their finales. So it was, that since last time we got together, we've seen the close of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime) a week ago today, Barry (HBO) this past Sunday, and Ted Lasso (Apple tv+) no Wednesday, the fuinal day of May.       Maisel went out on good notes, with the final season stretching into the future for most of the characters, emphasizing life lessons learned, growth, and the comfort of hard-forged friendship returning to provide comforts late in life. That's a good thing to achieve. Across its five, uneven, seasons, 43 episodes, beginning in 2017, Midge, Suzy, Abe, and many of the other characters became dear to me, and I'll inevitably get back around to rewatching it to take it in more as a complete, imperfect package. I'l...

      Here in the States, a great many of us are looking at a holiday weekend, with Memorial Day extending the time off by a day. Hypothetically, more time for whatever one wants to do, within one's budget of money and energy. Ideally a mix of activities, some indoor, some out, but hopefully with few to no workplace obligations until Tuesday, there may be more time to find something to watch.        Today sees the series finale for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, something I expect to get to before the day's out. This final season's incorporated a variety of flash-forwards, allowing us to see where key characters land decades later than the series' primary focus of the end of the '50s and early '60s. I'll be sad to see them go, but am more interested in seeing how the details work out for them than I am in artificially putting off the goodbyes.       This Sunday will see the series finale for Bill Hader...