Journal of Popular Television, The - Volume 11, Issue 3, 2023

We pursue the consequences of temporal complexity for character development in Better Call Saul (2015–22). We advance this argument by attempting an Aristotelian reading of Better Call Saul but then show some of the deficits that follow from transferring this methodology from theatrical to serialized televisual character. Following this, we highlight some of the deficits of a judgemental approach to character that appear within the narrative of Better Call Saul, and we propose instead to understand serialized character development ateleologically. This distinction introduces the relevance of a feminist ethics of care, which we believe provides a more relevant frame for the moral evaluation of serialized character. In contrast to the absolutism of universal principles, a feminist ethics of care orients one to understand those for whom one cares in ‘relational contexts’ that emphasize specific, material and concrete conditions. This dichotomy between judgement and care is dramatized within Better Call Saul through the interpretations that two characters bring to an extended deceit. Just as the discursive and diegetic complexity of the series prompts viewers to continually re-frame and re-evaluate Jimmy McGill, Jimmy likewise regularly uses a similar move of misdirection during his scams in which he invites other characters’ judgement about one aspect of his performance while accomplishing his actual goal by other means. Jimmy routinely invites judgement through taking on personae that he ultimately discards, reserving and preserving evaluation of his authentic motivations in continual acts of deferral. If Jimmy is ever rehabilitated, he arrives at such a possibility through an authentic confession directed towards the person who has cared most for him, Kim Wexler. Ultimately, we believe that Better Call Saul uses the structure of its serialized discourse to endorse the moral attention and responsiveness that are characteristic of a feminist ethic of care, rather than a system of characterization based on a teleological, final judgement that sees character from an endpoint looking backwards.

Today’s technologically eclectic media landscape – dominated by streaming algorithms, curated playlists and TikTok-spawned virality – has elevated the role of the television music supervisor. Film and television soundtracks, previously influenced by mixtapes and compilation CDs, have become inexorably shaped by the rise of streaming. Digging the infinite crates of the internet for rare and recycled tracks from yesterday and today, music supervisors for shows like High Fidelity (2020), The Bear (2022–present), Atlanta (2016–22) and Russian Doll (2019–present) have sculpted distinct sonic identities that grab viewers on-screen and retain their attention through their ‘Official Spotify Playlists’. This article traces the possibilities of the soundtrack in the playlist era through case studies of HBO’s eclectic anthology series High Maintenance (2012–20), as well as the unprecedented resurgence of Kate Bush via Netflix’s Stranger Things (2016–present).

This article explores viewers’ experiences of the Swedish Public Service (SVT) ‘slow TV’ broadcast Den stora älgvandringen (The Great Moose Migration), aired as a three-week long, live, multi-platform programme since 2019. Through semi-structured interviews with key informants, the aim is to qualitatively understand the audience attraction to the 24/7 programme, especially when it comes to authenticity, affordances and its apparent slowness of pace. The study showcases a spectrum of audiences’ experiences, ranging from appreciating the programme’s serenity and stillness to its potential for unexpected drama. It is suggested that The Great Moose Migration offers a ‘direct’ link to Swedish nature as it enables a wallowing in Swedish landscapes and fauna, and allows for an unashamed adoration of the majestic Swedish moose, but without it being experienced as something particularly ‘Swedish’. It is found that authenticity is central to the programme’s success with both production team and audiences. However, both personal and sociable experiences of the programme as authentic rest on the collective acceptance of authenticity as something intrinsically produced by people and technologies yet not experienced as constructed. Rather, it is something that hovers in between experienced mediated and unmediated reality.

Since the phenomenon of Hallyu 1.0, Korean transnational popular culture has caught the attention of scholars worldwide, sparking discussions about soft power, gender, media consumption, and fandom in countries from the East to the West. However, there is a lack of studies on multiracial Malaysian youths’ consumption of South Korean transnational popular culture, as highlighted by the onset of trendy K-dramas. This study focuses on the shift from highly segregated, ethnic-based media consumption to a more unified consumption of East Asian television drama productions by reviewing trends of media consumption before and after Hallyu in Malaysia, and highlights the impact of Korean soft power in Malaysia in the form of a new hybridized trendy drama. We conceptualize features of the K-drama model: hybridized physiognomy, romantic innocence, ‘neo-Romantic’ ballads, and foreign language as a ‘hook’, borrowing Gary Burn’s terminology in popular music, that united multiracial consumption among the Malaysian youth. Finally, the results suggest a ‘re-packaging’ of homogeneity in television drama production and consumption.

Review of: Race and the Animated Bodyscape: Constructing and Ascribing a Racialised Asian Identity in Avatar and Korra, Francis M. Agnoli (2023)

Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 216 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-49684-508-5, h/bk, $99

ISBN 978-1-49684-509-2, p/bk, $30