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ACROSS
1 __-Saxon
6 Swedish quartet
10 “Woe is me!”
14 Plain-paper
copier pioneer
15 Rider’s strap
16 Hitchhiker’s ride
17 “Revenge” co-
star VanCamp
18 Drug cop
19 Words to an old
chap
20 Doughnut order:
Abbr.
21 *“I don’t want to
belong to any
club that will
accept me as a
member”
speaker
24 Potsdam pair
26 Bum kin
27 In great detail
31 Keyed into the
register
35 Votes against
36 Slender
woodwind
38 Loy of “The Thin
Man”
39 Belief suffix
40 Artist Moses ...
and, when
divided into three
parts, a hint to the
answers to
starred clues
42 N.C. State’s
conference
43 Step
45 Pitchers Darling
and Guidry
46 Singer Lovett
47 __-weensie
49 Paid for the
release of
51 Dynamic
opening?
53 Cake served au
rhum
54 *Score-settling
competition
59 Indent key
62 Forfeited auto
63 __ San Lucas:
Baja resort
64 Bandleader Shaw
66 Cupid
67 Gradual melting
68 Marsh stalks
69 With 11-Down,
Louvre
masterpiece
70 Get wise with
71 Central Park’s
843
DOWN
1 Gave the boot
2 Jules Verne
captain
3 *2005
documentary
about a bear
enthusiast
4 Cyberchuckle
5 Scuba gear
element
6 River of Pisa
7 Belle’s beloved
8 White state tree
of New
Hampshire
9 News show VIP
10 Payment after a
divorce
11 See 69-Across
12 Quite a long
distance away
13 River of Hades
22 Harshness
23 44th president
25 Director Craven
27 Ouzo flavoring
28 Aesthetic
judgment
29 Vanishing ski
resort apparatus
30 Wedding vows
word
32 *Brains,
figuratively
33 Cry of surrender
34 Measured in
steps
37 Poet __ St.
Vincent Millay
40 Norwegian
composer
Edvard
41 News network
with a six-color
logo
44 Dancer Duncan
46 Return from
Venus?
48 Builds
50 North African
expanse
52 Nebraska city
54 Fat measure
55 San __, Italy
56 In the know about
57 “Down with,” in
Paris
58 Auto club
services
60 Assistant
61 Porgy’s beloved
65 Camcorder
button
By Ed Sessa
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/08/15
12/08/15
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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6 — Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TV REVIEW
An ‘Ex’-cellent
mid-season finale
‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’
goes into the holidays
on a high note
By SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
Since the premiere of “Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend” ’s premiere on the
CW back in October, star Rachel
Bloom (“Robot
Chicken”)
has
consis-
tently
proved
her knack for
singing, writ-
ing and act-
ing in one of
this year’s best
new shows. By
infusing witty
original songs
into its musical comedy genre,
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” explores
the imaginative mind of Bloom’s
character, Rebecca Bunch. So
far in the first season, Rebecca
has grown from an unhappy,
overworked New York lawyer
into a more emotionally involved
character in West Covina, Calif.
She clearly still denies many of
her actions, constantly repress-
ing how she moved to the West
Coast just to be with her high
school summer fling Josh Chan
(Vincent Rodriguez III, “Hostag-
es”). Regardless of her motives,
Rebecca’s underlying neurosis
and her quest for happiness builds
a strong foundation within the
show. This past week’s mid-sea-
son finale, “My Mom, Greg’s Mom
and Josh’s Sweet Dance Moves!”
feeds viewers another round of
strong
character
development
and musical numbers in a typi-
cally pleasant fashion.
The holiday theme of the epi-
sode plays out nicely, but for
Rebecca and Co., the holidays are
far from nice: Rebecca receives a
visit from her domineering single
mother (Tovah Feldshuh, “Flesh
and Bone”) for Hanukkah, in
hopes of mending the boiling ten-
sion between the two; Greg (San-
tino Fontana, “Frozen”) dreads
spending time with his mother
(Mel Harris, “Thirtysomething”),
who left him and his dad when
Greg was young; Josh yearns
for the glory days of being a kid
at Christmas (who wouldn’t?).
While these characters cope with
their problems during The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year,
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” showcases
their situations as a vehicle for
their growing self-awareness.
Since
the
pilot,
Rebecca’s
strained relationship with her
mother has been slowly building
to a climax — their tense interac-
tions only shown through flash-
backs, a phone call and a brief
FaceTime chat. But now that
Rebecca’s mother makes a com-
plete appearance, we see their
dynamic in action. In her first
grand entrance, Mrs. Bunch belts
out the episode’s first musical
number “Where’s the Bathroom?”
where she makes rapid-fire cri-
tiques about Rebecca’s home,
taunts her physical appearance
and inquires about her sexual
orientation. Through her fast-
paced delivery, Mrs. Bunch’s
overbearing
personality
and
critical behavior toward Rebecca
become evident, and the song
clearly reflects Rebecca’s harsh
upbringing.
Following Mrs. Bunch’s formal
introduction, Rebecca does every-
thing she can to impress her dis-
paraging mother. She lies about
how she works at a refined law
firm and how her best friend is a
stuffy British woman, played by
Rebecca’s actual best friend and
confidant Paula (Donna Lynne
Champlin, “The Good Wife”).
Though Rebecca’s “mom-pleaser”
attitude may be a gag in the epi-
sode, her constant attempts to
win her mother’s approval unveils
a deeper, much more psychologi-
cally troubling truth. Coupled
with her depression, Rebecca
might be tackling reactive attach-
ment disorder. Rebecca explic-
itly admits to her “mom-pleasing”
ways, yet she perpetually lies to
her mother about her work life
and friendships simply because
she still aches for the approval she
has always wanted.
In contrast to Rebecca, Greg
embodies the opposite — a “mom-
hater,” if you will. He reluctantly
goes to visit his mother, whom
he calls by her first name “Shaw-
na” and brings along Rebecca’s
neighbor
Heather
(newcomer
Vella Lovell) for support. Much to
Heather’s surprise and Greg’s dis-
may, Shawna and her “privileged”
family are genuinely welcoming
people. But instead of acknowledg-
ing how thoughtful and caring his
mother is, Greg continues to resent
her, solely because she aban-
doned him and his father. Greg
has too much pride in recognizing
his mother’s kindness, whereas
Rebecca has too much anxiety in
overcoming her mother’s coldness.
Of course, Rebecca and Greg
eventually learn from their mis-
takes; Greg accepts his mom and
her generosity to spend time with
him and Rebecca accepts her mom
as well, though she still doesn’t
see how her mother continues
to deprive her of happiness. The
only small flaw within the mid-
season finale is Josh’s subplot. It’s
oddly short and primarily used to
connect with the last sequence of
the episode: Josh’s yearning to
celebrate Christmas as a kid is
fulfilled when he rejoins his old
high school breakdancing crew
at West Covina’s annual Winter
Wonderland event. This, howev-
er, leads into the second musical
number, “California Christmas-
time,” which is equally hilarious,
campy and clever.
After eight spectacular epi-
sodes,
“Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend”
ends its mid-season finale on a
high note. Though it isn’t the
best of the season, it deftly ties
together three subplots, two
refreshing musical numbers and
one charming protagonist —
making for an overall emotion-
ally satisfying episode.
B+
Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend
Mid-season
finale
The CW
TV REVIEW
Average ‘Superstore’
By SHIR AVINADAV
Daily Arts Writer
NBC’s new workplace com-
edy “Superstore” is a revealing
portrait of the monotony of daily
life. It illus-
trates the frus-
trations of an
unsatisfyingly
dull job, love
and
human
desire — well,
as much as a
sitcom
about
a motley crew
of employees working at a spoof
of Walmart can. Justin Spitzer’s
(“The Office”) new series fol-
lows a band of offbeat employ-
ees with Amy (America Ferrera,
“Ugly Betty”) at the helm. Fer-
rera’s endearing performance of
the shrewd, yet dispassionate,
Amy is reason enough to watch
the show, but leaves us wanting
more from the plot itself.
Though the setting of a
large retail chain leaves little
room for original content (how
many packages of toilet paper
can the new guy knock over?),
the show revels in the tedious
duties and individual traits of
its characters. Even something
as simple as Cheyenne (Nicole
Bloom, “Project X”), a young,
pregnant employee attempting
to pick up a box, is shown face-
tiously. Jonah (Ben Feldman,
“Mad Men”), the well-meaning
yet blundering new guy who
quickly (and predictably) devel-
ops a crush on Amy, resorts to
stacking soda cans in the image
of a smiley face to impress her.
Ferrera easily takes on her role
as the unamused and seasoned
floor manager, with no shortage
of thinly veiled sarcasm to dole
out to unwitting Jonah.
A
playful
back-and-forth
commences between Jonah and
Amy when he mistakes her for
a customer and unintentionally
insinuates that the employees at
the store are beneath him, say-
ing, “I know I don’t seem like the
type of person who would work
at a place like this” (at which
point Amy looks over at Chey-
enne struggling with the box).
Amy feigns surprise and sarcas-
tically says, “Oh no, I wouldn’t
want to sound condescending,”
when Jonah reprimands her for
restating what he’d just said.
This
magnificently
awkward
interaction is then tarnished by
a slapstick routine where Jonah
attempts to lean against a moun-
tain of bulk toilet paper rolls
and falls over, bringing them all
down with him.
Jonah’s
unfortunate
gaffe
leads to him spending the rest
of the episode trying to get into
Amy’s good graces. But he acci-
dentally misprices all the elec-
tronics and creates chaos among
the store’s shoppers. The con-
trast between Amy and Jonah
shines as Jonah uselessly pleads
with an old man not to buy a
mispriced item, and Amy chases
a woman who leaves the store
only to end up in a physical alter-
cation with her.
Hilarity ensues as one employ-
ee Garrett (Colton Dunn, “Key
and Peele”) encourages custom-
ers over the speaker system to
take advantage of the mistake.
The security guard panics, and
then it all abruptly ends when
another employee, Dina (Lauren
Ash, “Lars and the Real Girl”),
marches in front of the crowd
with a rifle. Dina’s dramatic
response exemplifies her rough-
around-the-edges, but emotion-
ally vulnerable, characterization
that is made even funnier by her
crush on Jonah. Dina is just one
of the many characters adding
range to a plot that seems lost in
its effort to center on the poten-
tial for comedy in a boring work-
place.
Glenn (Mark McKinney, “Sat-
urday Night Live”), the store
manager, exudes a nauseating
optimism, like a father with no
authority trying to make his kids
think he’s cool. His exuberance
makes him an easy target for
manipulation by his employees,
creating an amusing dynam-
ic, but automatically relegat-
ing him to the sidelines of the
plot. The potential for romance
between Amy and Jonah pushes
any chance the other characters
stand of having a quality role to
the plot’s periphery. Even Amy,
who goes by the name Ramona at
work to avoid mixing her person-
al life and work life, loses some
of her complexity. In his efforts
to impress her, Jonah, and the
possibility of romance between
the two, overshadows Ferrera’s
character — effectively mini-
mizing one of the few strengths
the show has.
Even in a plot as static as its
characters’
workplace,
there
are a few amusing moments that
merit praise. Overall, the show
reproduces an atmosphere of
monotony inherent to its set-
ting. Though Jonah tries to show
Amy “moments of beauty” in
their world of daily annoyances,
the show itself struggles to find
its own “moments of beauty.” In
an effort to meld comedy with
some sort of a deeper statement
about finding joy in the hum-
drum of day-to-day life, “Super-
store” misses the mark. But
with America Ferrera leading a
solid cast and with some well-
written dialogue, the show has
potential. Just don’t expect it to
be the next “Office.”
B-
Superstore
Series Premiere
Mondays at 10 p.m.
NBC
TV REVIEW
Improving ‘Gotham’
By MATT BARNAUSKAS
Daily Arts Writer
“What the hell?” asks Jim
Gordon (Ben McKenzie, “South-
land”), waking up to the sight of
Oswald
Cob-
blepot
(Robin
Lord
Taylor,
“The
Walk-
ing
Dead”)
and
Edward
Nygma
(Cory
Michael Smith,
“Carol”)
sing-
ing
together.
In many ways, this reaction of
disbelief sums up my thoughts
on “Gotham” ’s second season.
The show is insane, many times
edging into headshaking ridicu-
lousness, but there are moments
where it becomes ridiculously
entertaining, against anyone’s
better judgment.
One of the biggest issues
“Gotham” had in its first sea-
son was a failure to commit to a
specific tone. As it tried to bal-
ance a gritty police procedural
with over-the-top supervillain
antics, “Gotham” became a
muddled mess. However, in its
second season, the series com-
mitted to the more exagger-
ated reality of its comic book
origins while maintaining dark-
er moments.
“Gotham” is still a mess, but
at least now it’s a mess with
some direction. Abandoning the
incredibly dull (and often lazy)
procedural aspects of its inau-
gural season, “Gotham” became
far more serialized. Its sopho-
more attempt focuses on the
vengeful machinations of the
Galavan siblings, Theo (James
Frain, “True Detective”) and
Tabitha (Jessica Lucas, “Evil
Dead”), against Bruce Wayne
(David Mazouz, “Touch”).
Issues like shallow charac-
ters continue to prevent several
storylines from ever really dis-
tinguishing themselves. Theo
never rose above his one-track
mind for vengeance and became
a relatively dull villain, even
though Frain embraced the more
flamboyant aspect of the show.
Another new character, Captain
Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chik-
lis, “The Shield”), became a tradi-
tional incorruptible cop and not
much else. Again, the strength of
Chiklis’s acting elevated aspects
of the character — but, like so
many “Gotham” characters, he
remained as flat as the comic
pages
that
“Gotham”
draws
inspirations.
The lack of character develop-
ment in places is a real shame,
considering
the
incredible
amount of depth and development
that comprises the extensive Bat-
man mythos on paper and film.
Again, a lot of these issues spawn
from “Gotham’’ ’s tendency to not
commit. Characters always walk a
line but hardly ever cross it. They
appear to be locked in perilous per-
sonal crises until the writers acqui-
esce and pull them away from the
edge.
Thankfully, the series at least
makes some commitment in its
finale with Gordon. “Gotham” has
always hinted at Gordon needing
to embrace a dark side in order to
bring justice to the city he wants to
protect. His twisted relationship
with Cobblepot has been the main
personification of this idea, as
the two occasionally trade favors
with each. Gordon’s willingness
to dirty his hands contrasts with
“Gotham” ’s earlier episodes when
the show always stopped him
from going too far instead of actu-
ally testing the metal of its usually
righteous protagonist.
This time, “Gotham” ensures
that Gordon will go all the way to
stop Galavan. “You keep trying to
kill yourself,” says Gordon’s girl-
friend Leslie Thompkins (More-
na Baccarin, “Homeland”) as he
prepares to join his few allies and
Cobblepot’s thugs in an attempt
to rescue Bruce. By having Gor-
don fully enter into an uneasy
alliance with the future Penguin,
the show finally puts Gordon at
risk of losing his moral responsi-
bility — something that becomes
all too apparent in the episode’s
final minutes.
“Gotham” still has some major
problems, from characterization
to absurd plot movements, but at
least the ship has righted itself
to a degree. The after-credits
teaser again displays concerns
about the shows ability to com-
mit to major moves, including
character deaths, but only time
will tell if “Gotham” is on the
right course or steering straight
into an iceberg.
C+
Gotham
Mid-season finale
FOX