Category: Worldwide

Of the 25 actors that have been nominated for an Oscar for playing an LGBTQ character, a grand total of zero of them have been openly queer. The debate on whether or not only gay actors can play gay roles has many sides and nuances. After Darren Criss, who is straight, won an Emmy for playing Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Criss vowed he would never play another gay man because he didn’t want to be “another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.” Actor Ben Whishaw, who is gay, feels otherwise. “I really believe that actors can embody and portray anything, and we shouldn’t be defined only by what we are,” Whishaw said. Recently, Kristen Stewart also weighed in on some of the complexities around the issue.

Variety recently asked Stewart about the importance of gay actors playing gay characters. Stewart acknowledged the complexity of the issue. “I would never want to tell a story that really should be told by somebody who’s lived that experience. Having said that, it’s a slippery slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I’m going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law. I think it’s such a gray area,” Stewart told Variety.

Authenticity in storytelling is important, and there’s normally a feeling of artificiality when someone tries to tell the story of a group in which they don’t belong. However, it’s not always the case. “There are ways for men to tell women’s stories, or ways for women to tell men’s stories. But we need to have our finger on the pulse and actually have to care,” Stewart told Variety.

Stewart also pointed out that telling the story of a group you’re not part of has to be done with love. “You kind of know where you’re allowed. I mean, if you’re telling a story about a community and they’re not welcoming to you, then fuck off. But if they are, and you’re becoming an ally and a part of it and there’s something that drove you there in the first place that makes you uniquely endowed with a perspective that might be worthwhile, there’s nothing wrong with learning about each other. And therefore helping each other tell stories,” Stewart pointed out.

Stewart is currently starring in Happiest Season, an LGBTQ Christmas film directed by Clea DuVall. “Happiest Season” tells the story of Abby and Harper, a lesbian couple who spends the holidays at Harper’s parents’ house, despite Harper’s family not knowing she’s a lesbian. Mackenzie Davis, the actress who plays Harper, is straight, and Stewart doesn’t see a problem with Davis taking the role. “She was the only person in my mind that could have played this with me. Sometimes, artfully speaking, you’re just drawn to a certain group of people,” Stewart explained to Variety.

But for all of the complexities around the issue, Stewart boiled it down to one simple, common sense solution. “So my answer is fucking think about what you’re doing! And don’t be an asshole,” Stewart said.

She’s got a point. Sometimes all it takes to figure out if you’re “doing it right” or not is asking yourself if you’re being an asshole.

Chris Evans is no stranger to setting the internet’s loins on fire, but this time, he did it without even taking off his shirt (or all of his clothes). In fact, the Captain America actor’s chunky sweater plays an integral part in his latest viral moment that’s leaving folks with all kinds of feelings. It all started with Evans dropping a video of his piano skills in his Instagram Stories, and it didn’t take long before social media was fanning itself as the musical clip quickly bounced around Twitter. Maybe it’s the pandemic conditions, the contentious presidential election that doesn’t seem to want to end, or the simple matter of Evans being a downright snack, but people are here for him tickling the ivory and they aren’t shy about it.

Here are just some of the reactions, which fair warning, only get hornier as they go on:

But people weren’t just thirsting for Captain America getting classical in a comfy sweater. They were getting downright emotional at the pure beauty of it all. No man should be this delightful!

That said, it also didn’t take long for everyone to remember that time Evans did a shirtless backflip, and we’re back in Horny Town.

Evans has yet to react to the thirst parade being launched in his honor, but the Marvel star is an expert at flipping social media attention into a good cause. After he accidentally posted a nude photo to Instagram back in September, and nearly broke the internet in the process, Evans used the viral moment to encourage people to vote. Two months later, America saw its highest turnout ever for a presidential election. Are the two related? Who’s to say?

(Via Chris Evans on Instagram)

The greatest footballer to ever live has passed away. According to multiple reports out of South America, the 5’5 colossus who served as one of the most magnetic athletes of all-time due to his brilliance on the pitch and his penchant for being in the public eye off of it, died on Wednesday morning. He was 60 years old.

The report was confirmed by ESPN, while The Daily Mail reports the cause of death was a cardiac arrest. Argentina’s national soccer team, along with S.S.C. Napoli, paid homage to Maradona with a tweet.

Maradona’s career as a footballer — which spanned from 1976 to 1997 and included pit stops in Argentina, Spain, and Italy — is nigh unparalleled. As an attacking midfielder, Maradona was revered for his ability to produce moments of magic with the ball at his feet, often possessing a gravity no one else could even begin to replicate despite oftentimes being the smallest man on the field. As a club player, he was most well-known for his time with Italian side Napoli, where El Pibe de Oro (The Golden Boy) helped the side Serie A for the only two times in its history.

With his national team, Maradona was instrumental in Argentina winning the 1986 World Cup, a tournament in which he won the Golden Ball for being the best players. His name still strikes fear in the hearts of English supporters who watched him almost single-handedly topple the Three Lions in the quarterfinals with perhaps the two most famous goals in World Cup history — the controversial “Hand of God,” in which Maradona used his right hand to punch the ball past the keeper, and the moment known as the Goal of the Century, a slaloming run through midfield in which Maradona’s greatness was put on full display.

His exploits off the field, where he was known for a cocaine addiction and a reputation for being a party animal who occasionally indulged in a lavish lifestyle, was as much a part of his legacy as what he did as a player. Despite this, he was known for being a man of the people, both as a player and as an advocate for the poor — he once famously criticized the Pope after visiting the Vatican, saying “I argued with him because I’ve been to the Vatican and seen the gold ceilings. And then I hear the Pope saying that the Church was concerned about poor kids. So? Sell the ceilings, mate! Do something!”

Following the end of his playing career, Maradona, transitioned into managing, which included a stint as the manager of Argentina’s national team. Most recently, he served as the manager of Argentine club Gimnasia.

The backlash to the 2021 list of Grammy nominees has been swift and severe. Some of the major criticisms about the list were related to the hip-hop categories, like how very few women are present in them. 50 Cent has similar issues, as he is not a fan of the nominees for Best Rap Album.

As HipHopDX points out, 50 Cent shared and later deleted the list of nominees in that category on Instagram, which consists of Black Habits by D Smoke, Alfredo by Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, A Written Testimony by Jay Electronica, King’s Disease by Nas, and The Allegory by Royce Da 5’9″. 50 expressed his discontent with that selection, writing, “Best Rap Album [smiling emojis] They out of touch this sh*t ain’t it, get the f*ck outta here.”

Although he didn’t say it, it’s possible 50’s displeasure with the category has to do with his involvement in the posthumous Pop Smoke album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon. The album and its songs didn’t earn any nominations, which he predicted earlier this month would happen when he said, “If it’s recognized, it will because he’s gone. The content is similar to what I would do. They didn’t recognize mine. They gave me Grammys when I was with Em, when I’m on records with Eminem. Other than that, they’re afraid to give him Grammys because they think it’s teaching the audience to want to be like Pop, and to be like him is to be part of gang culture. Who you see get Grammys that is making drill music? You mean to tell me ain’t none of those songs worthy of it?”

Find the full list of 2021 Grammy nominees here.

Donald Trump and his team of sub-Lionel Hutz lawyers were expected to travel to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Friday to continue his futile attempt at overturning the fair and legal election that he lost to Joe Biden. But the trip was called off after Rudy Giuliani “was exposed to a 2nd person in the last week who tested positive for coronavirus,” according to CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond. That means there won’t be a repeat of the Four Seasons incident or the black goo leaking from Rudy’s scalp, but at least it gives Jenna Ellis more time to look up fake Teddy Roosevelt quotes.

Trump’s legal advisor, who recently claimed that he won the election by a “landslide,” tweeted a quality photo of America’s 26th president with the quote, “To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.” That doesn’t sound like something Theodore Roosevelt would say, because he didn’t: literally the first Google result for the quote is a Reuters article that states, “Posts circulated on social media attribute a quote on liberals and conservatives to the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. The quote, however, is falsely attributed to him… Reuters found no mention of this quote among those compiled by the Theodore Roosevelt Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to perpetuating his memory and ideals.”

After being ridiculed for sharing a fake quote, Ellis tweeted, “For people asking, this quotation has been attributed to Roosevelt, but there isn’t a specific record of him saying this in a speech. I posted it because the idea itself is true, whether or not he said it!” Trump’s lawyer, the same who once called the president “an idiot,” siding with “sounds true” over “is true” is just too perfect, as many on Twitter pointed out.

“To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth” — Michael Scott.

University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban has tested positive for coronavirus, and has mild symptoms of COVID-19, the university announced on Wednesday morning. As a result, the coach will miss this weekend’s Iron Bowl game between Alabama and Auburn.

Saban will isolate at home according to NCAA protocols, while presumably his close contacts will be tracked down and asked to do the same.

Previously, Saban had turned up a positive test, but did not miss any games after he did not suffer symptoms and tested negative multiple times shortly thereafter. The positive test was determined to be a false positive at that time, and Saban never missed a beat.

Because he now is experiencing symptoms (mild so far, thankfully), Saban must now follow NCAA protocols until the disease has run its course and he can get back to coaching.

College football is headed toward another weekend dominated by the virus after breaking its own record every week of November for canceled games. At the same time, positive tests for college basketball coaches like Baylor’s Scott Drew are forcing their programs into COVID protocols as well. The disease continues to prove it will not make any exceptions for sports, no matter how aggressively leagues press on.

Internet Money has itself a hit with “Lemonade.” The song — which features Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav — has been occupying space in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for weeks and has managed a peak at No. 6 (on the latest chart, it’s No. 8). Now those artists got together to perform the song for last night’s episode of The Tonight Show.

The pre-taped performance took place on a simplistic-but-striking white platform stage surrounded by lemons. Bathed in yellow light, each of the featured rappers took their turns at the front of the stage to deliver their verses.

Internet Money’s Taz Taylor previously revealed that “Lemonade” started its life in 2017, tweeting, “We been sitting on lemonade since 2017 man. That song has had a crazy ass journey. I’m glad y’all finally have it..” Reflecting on the song’s success earlier this month, he added, “Sh*t even Lemonade we was told no on. yall have no idea how many artists passed on that hook and song for 3 YEARS. moral of the story.. stop doubting and just TRUST THE PROCESS.”

Since the song’s initial release, Internet Money have gotten other artists involved, as Roddy Ricch and Anuel AA have appeared on new versions of the track.

Watch Internet Money, Gunna, Toliver, and Nav perform “Lemonade” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As has been the case for any NBA-related endeavor over the past 8.5 months, this year’s offseason cycle, headlined by free agency and the Draft, unfolded amid distinct circumstances. Rather than a pair of mid-summer events that reshape many team’s outlook, things unfolded in the heart of winter and the NBA’s title picture looks fairly similar to last year. Certain playoff contenders like the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Portland Trail Blazers landed difference-making splashes via trade this month, but the Los Angeles Lakers’ flurry of moves in recent weeks have them still atop the league and eyeing a second consecutive championship.

Despite the largely stagnant top tier, at least with regard to its members, various teams, players and organizations have starkly benefited or been afflicted by November’s action. In simpler terms, some are winners and others are losers, though such concrete terms may appear foolish with the asset of hindsight down the road. The four aforementioned teams would all fall into the Winners category, but we’ve explored them in detail already. Here, we’ll take a look at the rest of the league and who’s had a good and bad offseason.

Winners

Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball

After weeks — months, maybe? — of rumors and speculation about how Gordon Hayward would approach his $34.2 million player option with the Boston Celtics, the veteran swingman chose to decline that option and will ink a four-year, $120 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The new deal is fully guaranteed and means, from the 2017-18 season to 2023-24 season, he will earn $213.6 million.

That’s a lot of cash for a one-time All-Star, though, in fairness, his ankle injury in 2017 dramatically altered the trajectory of his career and it’s reasonable to project he might’ve added more All-Star nods to his tally if fully healthy. Regardless, Hayward enters a new environment where he’ll be given more offensive freedom and responsibility.

For the Hornets, Hayward provides stability and secondary creation next to their recently acquired franchise center piece, LaMelo Ball, the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft. Ball is a virtuoso passer with a slippery and functional handle, but the upper echelon of his scoring equity remains to be seen. Hayward does not inhibit the exploration of his initiating upside, but will give Ball a release valve on the wing who can take pressure off when necessary.

As Hayward ages and Ball blossoms, the former can step further aside, if needed. The deal remains an overpay, but signing someone to help facilitate the development of Ball is paramount and shrewd. Perhaps that was not the motivation and Charlotte merely wants to chase the eighth seed, but this signing is an obvious win for Hayward and an understated one for Ball as well.

Trae Young

Since selecting Trae Young in 2018, the Atlanta Hawks have been prominent players on the trade market in an effort to surround their offensive superstar with a winning core. Young has not been quiet about his desire to win as quickly as possible and the Hawks have aimed to grant this request, wheeling and dealing assets and players for guys who are seemingly primed to help manifest Young’s wishes. They dealt a pair of top-20 picks on Draft night in 2019 to move up and select De’Andre Hunter fourth overall, perceiving him as a burly, versatile two-way wing who pairs well alongside Young. They acquired Clint Capela in February in an attempt to anchor their defense and provide another complementary pick-and-roll partner for Young.

The latest opportunity to acquiesce Young arrived this offseason, as Atlanta entered free agency stocked with cap space and has not hesitated to spend it. Headlining the Hawks’ spending spree is the signing of Danilo Gallinari to a three-year, $61.5 million contract. Gallinari becomes Atlanta’s second-best shot creator, particularly adept in isolation and a strong catch-and-shoot spacer from his forward spot, and will alleviate some burden from Young, who has overwhelmingly acted as the table-setter and primary scorer during his tenure.

Atlanta also inked former Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to a four-year, $72 million offer sheet/contract, surrounding Young with a crafty perimeter handler who also functions comfortably off the ball. Bogdanovic has limitations, but he is a savvy facilitator and shooter. His arrival further heightens this squad’s offensive potency. Next month, assuming John Collins is not traded, the Hawks will trot out a Young-Bogdanovic-Gallinari-Collins-Capela starting unit, assuredly capable of nabbing the Eastern Conference’s eighth on the back of a very good offense.

It’s probably not the level Young references when he talks about his desire to win, but it’s a notable improvement from the mid-lottery teams he’s been the face of early in his career. I’d wager adding win-now guys like Capela, Gallinari, and Bogdanovic accelerates the timeline too far forward and inhibits the Hawks’ chances of constructing a core through the Draft genuinely worthy of consistently deep playoff runs. But this new roster makes clear the pull Young wields within the organization. Atlanta’s offseason signifies an acknowledgement of Young’s demands and represents a step in actualizing his preference to win immediately.

Blake Griffin’s trade suitors

If a strategy to roster construction were a glaring signal to the availability of a star, the Detroit Pistons’ actions in recent weeks have to suggest Blake Griffin is on the trade market. Between the Draft and early days of free agency, Detroit fortified its frontcourt in a prominent way, preparing itself for a life without Griffin. Top-20 picks were invested in power forward Saddiq Bey and center Isaiah Stewart. Jerami Grant, who is maximized at power forward, was the team’s shiny free-agent pickup, signing a three-year, $60 million contract. The signings of Mason Plumlee and Jahlil Okafor round out the center depth chart.

So, since Nov. 18, five big men have been added to the roster, three of whom were on the receiving end of significant Draft or financial capital. Griffin is owed $74 million over the next two seasons. There’s a chance his physical decline continues moving forward and he cannot reproduce his All-NBA level from 2018-19. But that version of Griffin is a top-30 player, the sort of star who can reshape a team’s short-term vision. He probably won’t require a huge haul, given his contract and injury history. The intrigue of a playmaking, floor-spacing star forward, though Griffin’s health is a sizable question mark, has to be enticing for some suitors, whose ears might’ve perked up in response to the Pistons’ roster-building decisions this month.

Losers

RJ Barrett’s development

Watching RJ Barrett’s rookie season last year was challenging. He did not have the floor-spacing to augment his slashing prowess, nor the truly competent point guard/initiator to steer the offense and ensure he was not saddled with an overextended handling burden. Neither issue has been remedied this offseason. The New York Knicks selected Obi Toppin eighth overall in Wednesday’s Draft, pairing Barrett with a dominant lob threat, viable pick-and-pop big and gifted passer. Toppin is not an offensive hub or the elite shooter to command defensive respect on a possession-by-possession basis. He is a complementary player, just like Barrett, and now, neither, has the initiator to amplify their skillsets.

With guys like Killian Hayes and LaMelo Ball off the board, New York was handcuffed to an extent — even if a guy like Kira Lewis, a snug fit next to Barrett, would’ve been a sharper selection. The Knicks’ later selections, however, signified a lack of willingness to land that ball-handler. With Malachi Flynn and Desmond Bane both available, New York opted for Immanuel Quickley, an undersized off-ball guard who brings the shooting but not the handling for Barrett. Free agency did not offer a reprieve, either, producing notable acquisitions of Austin Rivers, Elfrid Payton (new deal, same team), Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, none of whom should be entrusted to conduct the offense or can be expected to simplify the offense for Barrett.

Retaining long-term cap space and flexibility is understandable and wise, and the Knicks avoided an ill-advised run of lavish signings, unlike previous summers. Yet the roster is still scarce on guys who will help their third overall pick from last year’s Draft and that is worrying for his developmental track, as well as the franchise’s perceived view of how to accommodate it.

Milwaukee Bucks

Earlier this month, the Milwaukee Bucks appeared as though they’d perhaps thoroughly addressed their perimeter scoring/creation deficiencies, landing both Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic via separate trades. Holiday is a Buck, but the Bogdanovic deal fell through because, well, he didn’t agree to a sign-and-trade, a rather important component of such a deal. Instead, Milwaukee sought to replace him with depth, signing guys like DJ Augustin, Bobby Portis, and Bryn Forbes. Beyond the tenet of high-end talent trumping depth, the real kicker is in solidifying the back-end of the rotation, the Bucks have likely enabled head coach Mike Budenholzer to, once again, extend too far down the bench in critical playoff series and short-circuit the minutes of his stars.

Budenholzer’s rotational preferences are not the sole factor for Milwaukee’s repeated postseason demise. Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to establish more counters as a scorer. Eric Bledsoe, who was sent to New Orleans as part of the Holiday trade, regressing from very good starter to nearly unplayable guard is to blame as well. Utilizing Giannis more as a roller and big man offensively would also help. Holiday’s advantages as a creator over Bledsoe will benefit the Bucks and potentially put them over the top when it counts, but missing out on Bogdanovic shrinks their margin for error during a season of vital importance for the franchise. Of course, should Antetokounmpo still put pen to paper on a supermax extension this offseason despite the failure to land the plane on the Bogdanovic deal, the Bucks can swiftly jump into the winners category simply by proxy of locking in the reigning two-time MVP.

At various points since Lorde’s 2017 album Melodrama, she has popped in to provide updates about her next project. In May, for example, she said it would be “a while longer” before her upcoming album arrived. Between now and whenever that record drops, though, Lorde has another creative endeavor on the way: Yesterday, she announced a new book, Going South, which is available for pre-order now.

The 100-page softcover book features writing and photos by Harriet Were, and it chronicles a trip Lorde took to Antarctica in early 2019. In a lengthy statement about the book, Lorde described it, “In early 2019 I took a trip to Antarctica, funded and facilitated by the lovely folks at Antarctica New Zealand. The continent has fascinated me since I was old enough to read. It started to interest me again in recent years as my environmental awareness went up and up, and questions about how to change my personal and professional footprints on this earth occupied much of my time. […] [Were’s] pictures turned out so beautiful, I thought it was only right to make them into a little catalogue-style book, alongside a piece of writing I did about my experience on the frozen continent.”

Find Lorde’s full statement about the book below and pre-order it here.

“Hello you,

How’re you doing out there? Is it getting cold where you are, or warm like it is here? The beginning of summer is my favourite time in New Zealand, and this year in particular it feels like a gift — I’ve had two swims, and even eaten the first tomatoes. My container garden is established — this year I’ve got French beans, English and snow peas, tomatoes, Thai chillis, various herbs, rocket, mesclun, Malabar spinach, zucchini and cucumbers (I’m gonna be so f*ckin stoked if those pop off; please send feedback on if the mailing list recipients want to see the results???!!). I’m thinking of my friends and loved ones experiencing opposite conditions in other parts of the world, keeping indoors, lighting candles and tightening circles. Hang in there, buds. You could watch the Queen’s Gambit, or Chinatown; give yourself a pedicure; listen to a Talking Heads album; go for a walk. These things help.

Well. I’m here in your inbox because I have some exciting news. Not that news. Don’t get too excited. Just a moderate amount.

In early 2019 I took a trip to Antarctica, funded and facilitated by the lovely folks at Antarctica New Zealand. The continent has fascinated me since I was old enough to read. It started to interest me again in recent years as my environmental awareness went up and up, and questions about how to change my personal and professional footprints on this earth occupied much of my time.

I was accompanied down there by my beautiful friend Harriet Were, who photographed our days, lugging all these cameras and lenses and film — yup, she shot completely on film in Antarctica — around in the snow. And the pictures turned out so beautiful, I thought it was only right to make them into a little catalogue-style book, alongside a piece of writing I did about my experience on the frozen continent. It’s called GOING SOUTH, and it’s a softcover book with over 100 pages of photos and writing.

When I went to Antarctica, I hadn’t yet started writing again after finishing Melodrama. I realised after the trip that what my brain had been craving was a visit to an alternate realm. Albums live in their own realms in a way, and Antarctica really acted as this great white palette cleanser, a sort of celestial foyer I had to move through in order to start making the next thing. In the plane coming down to land, I had this very intense bolt-of-lightning thought, which in all its eloquence was literally ‘DON’T MAKE SH*T RECORDS’, lol. I’ll always hold this trip up as a life highlight for many reasons, but I’m particularly grateful for it as one that showed me the beginnings of the new world which I continue to build, and am very excited to start showing you soon.

The book is a sort of perfect precursor to this album in an abstract way, and it’s a cool little piece of the Lorde cinematic universe for you to own if you’d like to. We’re doing preorders to get an idea of how many to produce, so it won’t arrive for Christmas I wouldn’t think, but the first 500 will come with a special picture postcard, signed by yours truly down here at the bottom of the world.

All net proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards a scholarship fund for an Antarctica New Zealand postgraduate scholar to study the science of climate change. Imagine if we could put someone through a climate-related PhD with this little book! It’s almost too awesome to think about.

Okay, that’s about all for now. I’ll put a link to the preorder here. Sending all of my love, all the time.

L x.”

Last week, I laid out the case that Kaley Cuoco, who stood at a crossroads at the 2019 end of The Big Bang Theory‘s twelve season run, is swiftly proving that many of us underestimated her talents. She’s already distancing herself from her stereotypical “dumb blonde” neighbor act with two roles in projects that she’s also executive produced (and therefore has a say in what goes down and how). The first role would be the deliciously profane voice of animated Harley Quinn (recently renewed for a third season on HBO Max), and the second project’s one of the first original series (albeit a limited one) on the same streaming service. Both series are savvy choices that go a long way to convince me that Kaley’s well-aware of her strengths, and she’s not afraid to use them to her greatest advantage.

HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant does play up those assets, namely Kaley’s comedic timing and flair for communicating “frazzled” but not “flustered.” It’s an important distinction to enjoying her character here, in what’s a pretty simple setup. Kaley portrays (you guessed it) an airline stewardess (Cassie) with an international jet-setting lifestyle. She’s a boozy mess, probably even a functional alcoholic (so many tiny vodka bottles), never growing too close to (almost) anyone. She falls into bed in various countries with various handsome men. During the course of one particularly fateful and ill-advised encounter, Cassie’s life (along with chunks of her sanity) careens right off a cliff.

In short, she blacks out and wakes up next to the bloody corpse of a one-night stand. Does she call the cops? Nope. Cassie does a terrible job cleaning up after herself, which means that she spends the next several episodes attempting to convince U.S. federal agents that she did not kill this fine American man. There are other things going on, of course, but there’s also a simplicity to this madcap quandary that I can appreciate.

That’s one level of how one can enjoy this show. It’s dark stuff, yes, and traumatic as well. Somehow, it’s also very funny, which is down to the absurdity of the situation, along with Kaley’s reactions to each piece of fresh hell that Cassie’s enduring. This isn’t a particularly smart series (nor does it take itself too seriously), but it is a clever one and a free-falling flight that careens through obstacles with such momentum that it’s easy to look past any plot holes. Instead, one can simply relax and witness Cassie’s not-so-slow descent into losing-her-sh*t-land while piecing together the details of her night.

It’s also possible to opt into a deeper level of watching this show, though that isn’t necessary. As in, there are multiple ways to weigh Cassie’s dilemma, which allows the audience to dive into the relevance of flashbacks that she experiences, sometimes years or decades into the past. One can mull over why this character set up a lifestyle for herself that allows her to rarely form a meaningful connection. Or one can consider how unavoidably messy Cassie’s inner state is compared to her glossy outward appearance. Then there’s the blackout factor, which presents questions about whether someone who’s accustomed to doing “silly” drunk things can possibly make the leap to murderer.

No obvious answers materialize for those considerations, at least, not in the first half of the season that’s been screened for critics. Instead, clues appear, and many of them arrive in surreal circumstances, so the show really does a fine job of veering away from predictability traps. It’s a whirlwind ride, too, with polished production values gliding through exotic locales with the well-timed click of high-heels through an airport. All of the action appears to flow so effortlessly that it’s easy to surrender to the flow, and although this show revolves around a present trauma, it’s almost relaxing to see Cassie frenetically attempt to clean up a compounding disaster. Maybe that’s partially because our own world has grown so absurd and out-of-our-control. It’s rather nice to watch a stressful situation play out in a surprisingly funny way and with the confidence that, somehow, a pilot shall guide this mess to a landing.

This is, through and through, Kaley Cuoco’s show, and she is very clearly having a ball with her character. Yet she is aided by some steely supporting players, mostly the ladies. Zosia Mamet gets to step outside the best friend box and play an attorney who isn’t afraid to slide all sorts of game pieces around. Rosie Perez plays a sketchy flight attendant colleague, who’s really more of a frenemy. And Michelle Gomez slides in and out of the picture as a possibly evil influence (after most recently playing Madam Satan in Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina). All three women spark different reactions and emotions within Cassie, while she tries to pick up the pieces and figure out exactly how her life has spiraled so far out of control that she’s ended up in this horrific position.

The Flight Attendant is a bloody affair that’s spiked with pitch-black humor. You’ll laugh at the scene where Cassie wakes up next to a virtual stranger’s body, and you won’t feel bad about doing so. Yes, that’s a weird statement to make in a show that frames itself around a brutal killing, but mostly, this adventure is about watching Kaley Cuoco stretch her legs down the aisles of leading-lady land. It’s also, at times, a chillingly captivating tale that charms without a heavy-handed touch. And it’s a fine choice to binge some hours away with multiple episodes dropping weekly. Take the trip, and place your trays in an upright position while you prepare for takeoff.

HBO Max’s ‘The Flight Attendant’ will run three debut episodes on November 26.