What is it? BrainDead, Season 1, 13 episodes on four discs from CBS DVD
When? Now
How much? $55.98
Who is brain dead? A significant number of people in Washington. Well, to be fair, they're only half brain dead. And "possessed by mind-controlling aliens" might be a more accurate description.
A strange meteor lands in Russia and, thanks to a collaboration between U.S. and Russian scientists, the meteor gets shipped to the U.S.
Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) loses financing on her next project and, to get her father to agree to help her, she goes to work for her brother, Sen. Luke Healy (Danny Pino). She's put to work dealing with constituent complaints, a job that puts the strange Russian meteor on her radar.
Then, politics as usual forces a government shutdown and the meteor is left unattended. Turns out, it's the vehicle for a whole army of antlike aliens, who escape and start infesting people all over Washington, particularly in Congress. Suddenly, elected officials, aides and even waiters start exhibiting strange behavior.
And, yet, hardly anyone notices.
Laurel notices, though. So does Gareth Ritter (Aaron Tveit), aide to Sen. Red Wheatus (Tony Shalhoub), who goes from being a lazy, easily manipulated moron to being a determined, extremist moron.
Even though they're on opposite sides, Laurel and Gareth team up, joining forces with Dr. Rochelle Daudier (Nikki M. James) and conspiracy theorist Gustav Triplett (Johnny Ray Gill) to get to the root of the problem and get rid of the aliens (and government gridlock) once and for all.
How is it? Funny, absurd and kind of disturbing. The series, from the team behind The Good Wife, is a satire, shining a light on the insanity, absurdity and extremism that seem to have taken over politics. It is a pointed commentary on the way the government works (or doesn't).
People who are still experiencing disillusion and burnout in the post-campaign season may find it therapeutic -- or too much too soon.
And it might make you paranoid about ants.
Is this Republican- or Democrat-focused? Well, not exactly either. There are good and infected people on both sides.
Are there extras? A few. There are three roughly 10-minute pieces on the creation of the series, characters and how real-life politics influenced the series, plus deleted scenes and a very short gag reel.
New this week: 19-2, Season 3; 800 Words, Season 1; American Gothic, Season 1; Death in Paradise, Season 5; Degrassi Junior High, complete series; Duck Dynasty, Season 10; Father Brown, Season 4; Fear the Walking Dead, Season 2; Star Trek, Roddenberry Vault (Blu-ray); The Twilight Zone, complete series (Blu-ray).
Next week: Doctor Who, Season 8, Part 2.
Style on 12/11/2016