by Shirley Lorraine

Fractured Actors Serve Laughs A La Carte

Actors gotta act. Audiences love to laugh. To meet both needs, the Fractured Actors Theater Company presented a digital production called Laughter in Place last Friday evening. Though not widely advertised, the Company has been around for several years and has produced some challenging and engaging material covering a wide range of styles and subjects. They tout “theater for a non-traditional audience”. I take that to mean anything goes. I especially love the phrase one of the actors said – “actors in isolation only get weirder.” So true. Haven’t we all changed a bit?

Noted on the Fractured Actors’ website is this statement – “Revisit your favorite characters from our past Speakeasy Projects and meet a new host of oddballs and misfits with brand new stories to tell about these strange times we’re all experiencing together. From afar. But also together.”

Now really, few things are better than being able to watch a show in your p.j.’s with your favorite beverage and snacks readily at hand. You don’t even have to comb your hair.

The one-hour YouTube premiere featured a collection of Zoom interludes, sketch comedy, original music, and a variety of talents. Host Bryan White stated, “We’re glad to not be with you this evening.” Of note are two original songs written and performed by Shelby Figueroa. The lament of Introvert’s Paradise is right on point. Her song Trash TV also has clever lyrics and is well done. She is accompanied in both by James Dorward.

A few of the sketches are re-dos of vignettes from previous performances. Some add a measure of pointed social commentary on the Covid-19 situation. A surprise visit from Dr. Fauci (Bryan White) illuminates the importance of social distancing. It is healing to laugh at how everyone is coping, or not. Grad party shows a family celebrating a middle school graduation via Zoom. Youngster Hunter Ham (the Grad) is a highlight. The inserted product advertisements are amusing and inventive. There is a little something for everyone.

Even the actor’s pets get into the act. One vignette features a bevy of cats (and one dog) voicing their feelings on owners who get in their space.

In the spirit of theatrical generosity, with tongue firmly in cheek, the Company promises a full refund of your (free) admission should you not thoroughly enjoy the evening of laughter. Totally worth twice the price. A guarantee is always appreciated.

Fractured Actors welcomes performers and backstage helpers of all types, all experiences, and all ages to be involved. Missed this one? I almost did but I am glad I got to catch the premiere showing. And, the production is available on the company’s YouTube channel to watch any time. Go to YouTube Fractured Actors to join in.

The best way to stay informed of what’s up next is to subscribe to the company’s email list via their website, www.FracturedActors.com.

by Shirley Lorraine

Entertainment Available in Creative Ways

Local stages are still dark, but some theater companies are finding ways to meet the need for entertainment and education in creative and innovative ways.

Conejo Playhouse in Thousand Oaks has been offering CPT Saturday Afternoon Live, a series of stand-alone workshops and webinars via Zoom Saturday afternoons at 2 p.m. Many are free. Advance registration is required to get the Zoom invitation and log-in information. Visit the theater’s website at www.conejoplayers.org for specifics.

Also at Conejo, coming in August will be Car Park Theatre! An evening of Broadway songs, silent auction (bid via phone) and dinner available through Big Mann BBQ. All from the safety of your car! Audition information is on their website with event details to follow soon.

Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre is bringing a Safe Distance Drive-in Theatre Concert Series to the parking lot of the Ventura Fairgrounds in July, August, and early September. The live 75-minute concerts will be performed on an elevated stage and projected onto four large screens. Cars will be parked with safe distance guidelines. The line up includes Drive-in Hits, Samonsky Sings Sinatra, Forever Plaid Reunion Concert, Jimmy Messina and Friends, and Music of the Knights. Contact the service desk at 1-800-667-2900 or visit www.rubicontheatre.org for more information and tickets.

Several of the theaters are periodically offering streamed performances of various kinds. Check your favorite VC theater’s website to get current information. Here are a few: Elite Theater – www.theelite.org; SPTC – www.santapaulatheatercenter.org; Ojai Arts Center – www.ojaiact.org; Camarillo – www.skywayplayhouse.org; Moorpark – www.highstreetartscenter.com; and Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center – www.simi-arts.org.

As of last Friday and for a few weeks forward, the Elite Theater is presenting “A Midsummer Night’s Stream” – a digital offering of the Bard’s well-known summer staple. The actors are all chiming in from their own homes, so the video qualities vary. The production is a work in progress. Opening night’s performance was still experiencing a few technological challenges, but Shakespeare’s words are always melodic, and it was thrilling to see “live” theater continuing. Register for a performance at the Elite website. The tickets are only $5.00 and, hey, you can watch in the comfort of your own home. Give it a try.

It remains to be seen when and if any of these theaters will be able to physically reopen. In the meantime, keep checking in to see what is happening. Your support is needed. All of our theaters gratefully accept donations to help secure reopening.

Of course, if you are so inclined, impromptu street theater (six feet apart, please) is still an option. Dance, sing, play an instrument, recite a poem, or tell jokes. At the very least, you will share smiles with others.

Another theater update – The Bank of America Performing Arts Center Thousand Oaks (Civic Arts Plaza) has announced that all live performances are cancelled until January 2021. Those holding tickets may contact the box office at 805.449.2787 or visit their website at www.BAPACthousandoaks.com for details.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
MY SPY
Amazon Originals

MY SPY finds hardened CIA operative JJ (Dave Bautista) recently demoted do due his extreme soldier actions during sensitive CIA operations, and when reassigned to a basic apartment stake out finds himself constantly challenged by a young Sophie, (Chloe Coleman) who he as been sent to surveil along with her mother Kate. Sophie, being very tech savvy, uses those skills to discover JJ’s surveillance operation after finding hidden cameras in her apartment. Sophie convinces JJ to spend time with her and teach her to be a spy in exchange for not blowing his cover, but JJ finds he’s no match for Sophie’s disarming wit and charm.

JJ’s boss Kim (Ken Jeong) had faith in JJ’s ability to defend the operation as a soldier, but was consistently challenged with JJ’s lack of ability to understand the subtleties of working undercover operations, so assigned JJ along with his tech guide Bobbi (Kirsten Schaal) to stake out a mother and daughter remotely connected to a nuclear arms deal (the recently deceased husband/father’s brother, Uncle Marquez, being the actual person of interest).

JJ and Bobbi setup operations in a nearby apartment, then setup cameras and listen devices to remotely monitor Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley) and her 9 year old daughter Sophie (Chloe Coleman). Sophie was quite precocious and actually walked into the undercover operation when JJ and Bobbi were distracted and decided to film them to basically blackmail JJ into teaching her the craft of being a CIA agent.

Unfortunately for JJ, Sophie had her own clever crafty ways and was constantly outsmarting JJ, like when he was trying to train her to get by him and while suggesting a distraction Sophie immediately tipped over JJ’s fishbowl, which sent him clamoring for his beta fish Blueberry, the only personal relationship he had in his life.

While JJ trained Sophie the CIA way, Sophie helped JJ to be more of his sensitive self, and in seeing this she decided that JJ was be a good fit for her mom Kate, so setup a date by breaking a water pipe and asking JJ to help her mother. Bobbi, discovering this through watching them under surveillance, warns JJ that he’s not only compromising the operation, she also shares her disappointment because she views JJ as her hero, and can’t seem to get him to teach her anything about his soldiering ways.

Marquez, the nuclear arms dealer, finally does show up at the apartment, believing that his brother had hidden the plans for the bomb with their pet dog and does actually find a USB drive in the collar, so decides to kidnap Sophie to help insure a safe getaway and headed to the airport to fly his private plan out of the country.

Of course JJ is not going to let that happen, especially with Sophie in danger, so he disables the plane on the runway by slashing the tire, and trades Sophie for the safety box thought to contain the USB drive. Sophie, with her newly acquired skills, thwarted her uncle’s plan by getting the USB drive when no one was looking and Marquez met his demise in a fiery explosion.

Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman are a great match for this cute, charming, action comedy.

Rated: PG-13 (for action/violence and language)
101 minutes

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Hollywood
Netflix Originals

Hollywood is the story of a group of young, aspiring actors, writers, and directors during post World War II who meet in Hollywood and together make their Tinseltown dreams come true. The series is mainly focused on handsome Jack Castello (David Corenswet) who decides that his dream is to become a movie star, so he moves from middle America to Hollywood and through life’s hard knocks eventually becomes a feature motion picture leading man.

With extras work being very scarce at the time and needing to provide a life for his wife and twins on the way, Jack takes a job at the Golden Tip gas station, owned by Ernie West (Dylan McDermott) but quickly discovers there’s more to the job than pumping gas. If a customer drove up to the pump and asked to go to Dreamland, that meant they weren’t there for gas, but for sexual encounters paying big money to both Ernie and his crew. Though Jack didn’t like the work, he was able to make important connections to further his career.

Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope) was a screenwriter who had just written a movie about the life and tragic death of a aspiring actress named Peg, which is what he named the movie. The screenwriting business was difficult to break into, especially for a young black man during the Jim Crow era, but Archie was supported in his efforts by his friend and aspiring director Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss). Raymond had already found the perfect lead actress for the part, his girlfriend Camille Washington (Laura Harrier), who was also black.

Young Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) also began his acting career during this time under the management of lewd talent exec Henry Willson (Jim Parsons) who was keenly aware of Hudson’s secret homosexual lifestyle and in a predatory manner bartered sexual favors for film opportunities with Hudson and his other clients.

Ace Amberg (Rob Reiner), owner of Ace Studios, was very racist and said he would not have a black woman lead, and that though he would produce the movie, he would not allow a black man to be credited as the writer. Ace fell ill ending up in care at home in a coma, leaving the studio to be run by Dick Samuels (Joe Mantello) and Ellen Kincaid (Holland Taylor ) who were both very interested and pleased in producing a movie with a black writer and lead actress.

The movie became stalled when Ace’s attorney blocked the production of Peg if any blacks were involved, though after a visit from Ellen’s dear friend Eleanor Roosevelt, who shared she was saddened at the racism she witnessed across the south and that there was a real opportunity for real change, Dick Samuels and Ellen Kincaid decided Peg must be produced and even changed the ending to create a more empowering story for young black women.

Hollywood explorers the rampant racism and sexual harassment that was happening during a time where it was common place for people to have sex in order to get a role or to even get a manager to represent them. Ultimately through many coincidental connections everybody’s dreams come true and the movie is renamed Meg, ending up winning top Oscars in all categories including best writing and best actress, a historic event for blacks in Hollywood.

7 Episodes – 45 minutes

by Tony Rizzo

Time doesn’t go backward, it only goes forward. The movie industry will take a long time to recover from the effects of our pandemic, and it will never be the same again.

Movie studios and producers hate giving up half their profits to movie theaters to show their films. So when theaters closed, by government decree, it gave the studios a chance to test the waters. The first film made for theaters that premiered on-demand was “Trolls World Tour,” which brought in a big bounty. Then the new $65 million Chris Hemsworth film “Extraction,” which was to premiere in theaters April 24, instead made its debut on Netflix and was viewed by 90 million households in the first four weeks.

That’s not to say films made in 3D or IMAX can be streamed first, since their charm is big screens and special effects. Which is why the fourth G.I. Joe epic was instead pushed to Oct. 23 in theaters. This reboot is called “G.I. Joe: Snakes Eyes,” with “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding in the title role. You probably remember that Channing Tatum starred in the original (which grossed $302 million) and Dwayne Johnson in the sequel, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (which grossed $678 million). Naturally there’s already a fourth film being prepped, “G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant,” though no star has been announced for this one.

Four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan stars in director Wes Anderson’s new film “The French Dispatch.” She’ll again be paired with Timothee Chalamet (as in “Little Women,”), as well as four Oscar-winning actors: Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton and Jeffrey Wright. Chalamet, meanwhile, has a date with “Dune,” the reboot of the classic Frank Herbert science-fiction novel, premiering Dec. 18.

Superstar Harrison Ford, now 77, recently had his third flying close call (that we know of). In 2015, he crash-landed a vintage World War II plane on a golf course in Los Angeles. He was lucky he was only “battered but OK.” Then in 2017, he landed on a taxi runway after he flew over a jet and again was unharmed. Most people were under the impression Ford was going to stop flying. Yet here we are today, hearing Harrison is “under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration over an incident that happened at a Southern California airport.” He apparently was piloting his light plane and crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing. Ford acknowledged the mistake and apologized by saying, “I misheard an instruction from air traffic control.”

Ford is a true superstar, and in an era where we have so few, we need him healthy and in one piece so he can be beaten to a pulp in the new Indiana Jones epic!

(c) 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS
Netflix Originals

Premiering in the Netflix Top 10 over the weekend, HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS is narrated by Nick Offerman and features actors, comedians, musicians and other well-known personalities including Deepak Chopra, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, Rosie Perez, Sting, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Bourdain, ASAP Rocky, Paul Scheer, Nick Kroll, to name a few who share their personal views and experiences involving psychedelics of all sorts including LSD, mushrooms, peyote and DMT.

A large group of A-list comedians and celebrities share some very interesting personal experiences that are re-enacted with 70s style animation. The documentary also shares information from scientists and other professionals regarding the use of hallucinogens for recreational use, as well as sharing pioneering techniques using psychotropic drugs to treat depression, addition and help terminal patients embrace mortality.
Viewers learn of the pro and cons, good trips vs. bad trips, with vibrant colorful animation and comedy poking fun at stigmas from the past such as playing related old 60s newsreels and changing “The More You Know” educational PSAs to “The More You Trip” with messages like “Don’t drive, Don’t look in the mirror, Control your set & setting, Do look in the mirror”. Scenes alternate between comedy and science

Sting
“When you have a bad trip, and I’ve had many, you realize it’s just what you needed. Sometimes it kicks your ass and sometimes you have to have your ego taken down. On the other hand, you can get immensely rewarding experiences full of love and support ….a connection to the planet. It balances out.”

Dr. Charles Grob – Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA
“I’m a researcher investigating the potential for a hallucinogen treatment model to heal psychiatric illness or heal addiction. I’ve also conducted the next DEA approve study where we have permission to use the alkaloid of hallucinogenic mushrooms psilocybin in a treatment model for individuals with advanced stage cancer who have reactive anxiety. Over all, their quality of life improved noticeably.”

Sarah Silverman
“I’ll be honest, I don’t remember having a conversation about it, I don’t remember anything other than he handed it to us,and we just went “boop,” put it right in our mouths. Didn’t think a thought about it. Forty-five minutes later… What was that, was that acid we took? I don’t feel anything. It’s always when you say I don’t feel anything is usually the tipping point. Do I feel anything. What is feeling. What is feeling anything. Oh, this is what tripping on acid is like.”

HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS in an entertaining, educational documentary that shares insightful information and detailed experiences that those who know can relate to, and those who are inexperienced can find some interesting and intriguing aspects regarding the uses of hallucinogenics.

Rated: NR
86 minutes

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Upload – Amazon Originals

Upload is a dark comedy with witty dialog that centers around death and the futuristic ways people choose to move through it. The world at this time is divided into living humans known as Bios and those who have crossed over, some choosing traditional death while those who can afford an afterlife being given the opportunity to upload their consciousness to a chosen virtual reality world for eternity where they are able to still communicate with the living world through technology.

The hitch is that you have to plan and pay for your afterlife choice before death, as a consciousness can only be transferred from a living person, with each afterlife realm driven by high priced amenities. There are several different virtual destinations for uploads, Horizen’s Lakeview being the most affluent afterlife zone. Upon arriving, afterlife guests are assigned a customer service rep referred to as their angel that they can all on for any concerns merely by calling out “angel”. The customer service rep consolidates the guest’s memory files and builds a VR visual profile from their images so guests feel a seamless transition into the afterlife, and their angels have a basic knowledge of their background and characteristics.

This futuristic world for the living Bios is completely controlled by technology with self-driving cars, 3D printed fake food and sex suits to have intimate encounters with those in the afterlife. Unfortunately for Nathan (Robbie Amell), his self driving car lost control and crashed into a large truck. In the hospital, Nathan is told that his situation is serious, and his girlfriend Ingrid Kannerman (Allegra Edwards) was there to convince Nathan to choose the Lakeview afterlife, due to her family’s wealth and future plans to reside there.

Though Nathan’s vitals had begun to recover, Ingrid got him to sign the consent, so his consciousness was removed, along with his head (an unfortunate side affect) and he was transferred to Lakeview where Ingrid had complete control over every thing Nathan did as every action had a charge, even thinking. Ingrid made sure that Nathan had an unlimited data plan so that she could always communicate with and control him.

Though angels are customer service agents working shifts, Nathan developed a special relationship with Nora (Andy Allo), a spunky rep that liked to bend the rules. As Nora and Nathan’s relationship grew, Nathan found himself wanting to be free of the financial grip Ingrid had over him and explore the possibilities with his angel Nora, which was strictly forbidden.
Nora had her own struggling in the real world of poverty and her dad being diagnosed with vape lung, not wanting to upload as Nora would prefer, rather wanting to join is deceased wife. Being a savvy tech, Nora discovered that some of Nathan’s memories were corrupted, and upon attempting to correct them discovers that Nathan’s car crash seemed intentional, and works on both sides to try to discover the truth.

Upload definitely poses questions regarding our future and the afterlife with lots of jabs at big corporations like naming the afterlife corp Horizen, Nora reaching out to her tech friend at AT&T&T and pokes at policies like the Vogue interview Ingrid does virtually with Nathan promoting Bios vs Uploads being the ultimate long distance relationship with Ingrid saying “Speaking of sex, would you like to watch one of our sex tapes. My dad got Ang Lee to edit the body cam footage from our first night together. …They’re on my office computer.”

Rated: TV-MA
10 Episodes – approx. 30 min each

Streaming Spotlight
by Cindy Summers

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – Netflix

The Tiger King reality series has consumed the attention of over 30 million stay at home viewers and centers around the everyday life of Joe Exotic aka Joseph Maldonado-Passage, a zoo owner in Oklahoma best described as a “gay redneck, gun-toting, mullet-sporting, tiger-tackling polygamist. Joe’s GW Zoo profited most on the breeding and petting of baby tiger cubs, earning up to $10,000 per cub, though can only be used for cub-petting until 12 weeks old, thus causing Joe to accumulate over 200 tigers in his zoo, along with hundreds of other animals and a unique cast of misfit employees from very colorful backgrounds.

Joe catches the eye early on of producer Rick Kirkham, who agreed to produce his internet show Joe Exotic T.V. while also filming a reality TV show Kirckham named the Tiger King. Having an extensive background in journalism and early beginning in Inside Edition, as well as tons of professional equipment, Kirkham’s production brought Joe’s shows to the next level gaining him a larger audience of fans.

Someone who was not a fan of Joe was Carole Baskin, owner of the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, having inherited millions from her husband who strangely disappeared without a trace just over a decade earlier. Baskin didn’t believe in the private ownership of big cats, and was totally against the practice of cub-petting, constantly seeking ways to use her fortune to put Joe out of business. This infuriated Joe, who constantly staged mock shootings, beatings and various ways to kill Carole on his internet show, where he was the flamboyant star bad mouthing Carole and blowing up things.

Joe had a huge ego, running for President and after losing ran for Governor of Oklahoma, passing out condoms with his picture on them. Cub-petting was a good way to attract young partners, and Joe married John Finlay when Finlay was only 19 years old. A few years later and while still married to Finlay, Joe also married 19 year old Travis Maldonado. After 11 years, Finlay left the threesome and married the office secretary who worked at the zoo. Neither Finlay nor Maldonado had been in a gay relationship prior to being with Joe, and neither actually considered themselves gay. Joe’s third husband Dillon Passage was gay and his only husband at the time.

The other well known cub-petting operation was a 50 acre preserve run by Dr. Bhagavan “Doc” Antle in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but Doc’s facility and clientele were very upscale compared to Joe’s struggling G.W. Zoo. Antle lived with a guru in his teen years and was exposed to tigers and other animals living freely and peacefully among humans. Doc’s tours start at $350 per person and go up to $600 and more. Doc is also one of Carole Baskins targets in her quest to shut down cub-petting operations across the country.

There so much crazy here to keep up with; arson, meth mayhem, shady investors, friends turned informants, business partners burning evidence, accidental shootings and tigers tearing arms off all right in front of cameras – you just have to watch it as every episode dives deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole the world has come to know as Joe Exotic. Viewers will be thoroughly shocked and entertained by the many unpredictable twists in the series, including Joe’s jailing for hiring someone to kill Carole Baskin, and there’s an 8th episode with comedian Joel McHale hosting an aftershow interviewing various cast members online during the stay at home orders.

Rated: TV-MA (violence, language, sexual content, drug use, animal harm. intense scenes)

7 Episodes – 45 minutes each

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
3 out of 4 palm trees
Outmatched (Season 1) – Hulu & FOX.com

What do you get when two average high school students get married and have four children, three extreme geniuses and the fourth you can’t be quite sure about? You get two adults constantly Outmatched by their children. This hilarious sitcom features the everyday life of blue collar couple Mike (Jason Biggs) and Kay (Maggie Lawson) and the unique challenges they face raising three kids with genius I.Q.s that constantly challenge and confuse the simpler minds of their parents in ways you wouldn’t normally find in the usual family dynamic.

The kids all have extremely different interests and specialties: Brian (Connor Kalopsis) is 16 and gifted in science and tech but very socially awkward; Nicole (Ashley Boettcher) is 12 and has political aspirations though struggles with unfounded intellectual inferiority; Marc (Jack Stanton) is 10, gifted in music though has a strange dark side constantly sharing intellectual facts on mortality; and Leila (Oakley Bull) is 8 and doesn’t appear to have a genius I.Q. like her siblings do and her simple way of life is the only relief Mike and Kay have from constant intellectual overload.

What do these parents hope for? Usually the things most parents would avoid, like being happy to finally have to go down to the principal’s office for something Marc had done, which ended up being bullying, but not any student, he was constantly correcting and belittle the intelligence of his teacher. They escape to their “parent fort” in the basement where they drink beer and ease the stress of their mentally challenging lives with things like strip poker.

The pilot opens with them being told that their youngest son Marc is a genius, to which they respond to by breaking a cupboard door, cursing and gestures of loss and disappointment. When the woman shared it was the highest she personally tested, it starts a competition in the house over who’s I.Q. is highest with the older kids trying various ways to intellectually trick their parents into finding out their number, which was intentionally kept from them. At one point Mike senses that he’s being tricked, but can’t figure out how and calls Cay for backup.

Through the 10 episodes we meet Mike and Cay friends, Irwin (Finesse Mitchell) and Rita (Tisha Campbell-Martin) who discover much to their surprise that they are the children’s guardians during Nicole’s “Guardians of Geniuses” PowerPoint presentation. There’s also a surprise visit from grandparents Jay (Tony Danza) and Sylvia (Caroline Aaron), who also cannot relate to the genius children, Jay saying openly for that reason Leila was his favorite.

With so many challenging things happening to everyone, I just wanted to share something that was completely void of seriousness and filled with lighthearted comedy, and sure the laugh track is a bit cheesy, but the writing is witty and portrays some funny and completely unusual family situations. Watch Outmatched on HULU or www.fox.com/outmatched

Rated: TV-14
10 Episodes: 22 minutes each

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Hunters (Season 1) – Amazon Prime Video

Inspired by true events, Hunters follows a rag-tag group of Nazi hunters living in NYC in 1977 tracking down Nazis living in the U.S. working together to create a Fourth Reich and take over the world. Released by Amazon Originals, Created and Written by David Weil and Starring Al Pacino.

Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman) was living in NYC and being raised by his grandmother Ruth, who he called Savta meaning grandmother in Hebrew. While Jonah was home but upstairs, Ruth was murdered by an intruder that Jonah was only able to catch a glimpse as he shot is grandmother and fled. At his grandmother’s funeral Jonah met Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino), a well-known millionaire who shared that he and Ruth were in the camps together during the Holocaust and that due to their experience he told Jonah to contact him if he needed anything, saying it was not charity but a debt he owed his savta.

Angry over his savta’s murder and seeking revenge, Jonah connects with Meyer and learns that along with his savta, Meyer had organized a group of Nazi hunters to seek out the Nazi war criminals brought to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip at the end of the war. The team is introduced to viewers in an avant-garde style Bat Mitzvah: former MI6 agent Sister Harriet (Kate Mulvany) mission and logistics planner; movie star Lonny Flash (Josh Radner ) master of mimicry and surprise; black power activist Roxy Jones (Tiffany Boone) counterfeiter, forger and crime scene cleaner; forever soldier Joe Mizushima (Louis Ozoawa) human weapon home from ‘Nam after three long tours; Holocaust survivors Murray and Mindy Markowitz (Saul Rubinek and Carol Kane), genius gadet-making weapons experts; and millionaire bankroller Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino) titan of design, master plotter and chief vigilante. Jonah had a natural gift at code breaking, which made him valuable to the team, so though his savta tried to keep him away, Meyer recognized Jonah’s natural place with the hunters.

Throughout the series, viewers learn about the hunters through flashbacks of their pasts related to the reasons they joined the team as they hunt down the most visible Nazi’s like rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, while building alliances with local police detective Millie Malone (Jerrika Hinton) to stay out of trouble and further their cause. The Hunters eventually discover that the Nazi’s in the U.S. are trying to secretly build a Fourth Reich led by The Colonel (Leno Olin) and work to stop the Nazis’ efforts in a coordinated attack on the U.S.

The biggest blowback about the series currently is that people in the Jewish community are upset due to some of the fictional events portrayed in the series, such as the human chess game (which there is no actual proof ever happened). Chess is a common theme throughout the series, and coincidentally the only person I met that had family in the camps shared a story about chess and how they used to save bits of their bread and use spit to mold chess pieces to have something to occupy their minds in the camp. Instead of saying these are falsities, they can share that the truth held even more horrific atrocities.

I personally feel this is bringing new light to the devastation of the Holocaust and causing people to question the government’s decisions and outcomes surrounding Operation Paperclip. Basically, at the end of the war with Germany, the U.S. was confronted with a challenging situation – either bring the best and brightest of the Nazi regime to the U.S. in an unprecedented witness protection program to have them work in the highest levels of security, research and science in the U.S. or let the Russians get them, which seemed a non-option during the time due to the U.S. Cold War with Russia.

I saw a recent interview on NBC Today with a Holocaust survivor that is spending his life going to schools to share his experience due to the understanding and fear that this horrible event in history is being forgotten and swept under the rug. Just as random DNA tests on ancestral sites are identifying criminals from the past, this series sheds light on heinous criminals provided a cushy life in the U.S. by our own government and hope it helps to reveal who they are and for them to experience the consequences of their actions.

Hunters is filled with great acting, strong character development, intriguing plot twists, and a completely unexpected turn in the final episode that will shock viewers and leave them longing for what’s next in Season 2.

Intended for Mature Audiences 18+ – Contains Adult Content, Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Strong Sexual Content and Nudity
10 Episodes: E1- 90 minutes E2-E10 – 60 minutes