LaToya Ferguson
Paste Magazine
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Past articles by LaToya:
The Other Two Season 2 Review
The Other Two might be even more packed with jokes per minute than before. → Read More
A double dose of Brooklyn Nine-Nine kicks off its eighth and final season
That calls for a resounding, "Nine-Nine! Nine-Nine!" → Read More
Heels Review: Starz’s Wrestling Family Drama Successfully Blurs the Lines Between Battles In and Out of Ring
“Oh, it’s all a ring, sweetheart.” When rough-around-the-edges, veteran professional wrestler Wild Bill Hancock (Chris Bauer) utters that line in the fourth episode of Starz’s Heels, it’s essentially the Heels equivalent of the line from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage. And all the men are merely players.” Because of course professional wrestling and Shakespeare go… → Read More
In “Fire Walk With Z,” Gossip Girl’s sisterly civil war finally comes to a head
And another teen drama bites the student-teacher affair dust → Read More
In "Lies Wide Shut," schemes, lies, and firewalls truly bring Gossip Girl to life
As does the full-frontal male nudity (only on HBO Max) → Read More
In “She’s Having A Maybe,” Gossip Girl goes to the classics for assistance
But an overstuffed cast and lack of focus trips it up this early on → Read More
A new Gossip Girl introduces new rules, new rivalries, and new potential
However, the central feud introduced in "Just Another Girl On The MTA" leaves much to be desired. → Read More
Lucifer wraps up its fifth season with an epic battle and “A Chance At A Happy Ending”
Series finales are hard. Yes, this is technically a season finale, but if you’ve followed along with these reviews, you may have been able to parse that this season was originally supposed to be Lucifer’s final season. “A Chance At A Happy Ending” (appropriately written by showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich) was originally supposed to be the series’ swan song, and even if you didn’t… → Read More
In its penultimate episode, Lucifer asks, “Is This Really How It’s Going To End?!”
As the penultimate episode of this season—and originally, the penultimate episode of the entire series—“Is This Really How It’s Going To End?!” sets things up just right for an epic finale and an even greater status quo shift. The odds are stacked against our heroes, they’ve lost one of their own, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Much like in the penultimate episode of the first half of… → Read More
A celestial family reunion teaches Lucifer that "Nothing Lasts Forever"
> “Can’t you… stay and annoy me for a bit longer?” I suppose that since God/Dad’s tenure on Lucifer officially began with a family dinner, it only makes sense that it ends with a family reunion. Or, a few family reunions, actually. Dad’s retirement barbecue at the park, Dad and Mom’s second act, even the double Decker date (featuring a returning Rebecca De Mornay as Chloe’s mother, Penelope).… → Read More
In “A Little Harmless Stalking,” the crime-solving Devil attempts to stops overthinking
When Lucifer was on network television, it did that thing that a lot of episodic series and procedurals (even those that fuck, such as it is) do: Because of episode orders, it would reiterate things that were seemingly already dealt with and backtrack to maintain a certain status quo. The most glaring examples would come in the form of Lucifer’s therapy sessions with Dr. Linda and Lucifer’s… → Read More
It's a real series of unfortunate events in Lucifer’s "Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid"
In case you missed it, Season Five was originally supposed to be Lucifer’s final season. The noir episode, the musical episode, Maze trying to return things to Season One status, physical Easter Eggs, the very presence of God. Even the current status of the Lucifer/Chloe relationship—and the sidelining of Chloe as a result—falls into the realm of a final season stretch. But the crowning… → Read More
With “Resting Devil Face,” Lucifer once again asks, “What if God was one of us?
The most important moment of “Resting Devil Face” is the one that inspires the titular line: the scene in which Dad sees Lucifer’s Devil face up close for the first time. As He is omniscient, He’d obviously seen the face before—even when He closed his eyes—but never in person. It’s the face Lucifer chose when he became King of Hell. The face of the monster Lucifer considered himself to be after… → Read More
Cops rock (along with the rest of the Lucifer fam) in “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”
At this point, musical episodes of shows are more a matter of “when” than “if.” But as I’ve surely noted before, Lucifer’s gimmick episodes tend to be as integral to the series’ stories and arcs as any other episode. Of course, a musical episode should be even more integral when done right. The purpose of a musical episode is to reveal through song what can’t be revealed simply via dialogue, as… → Read More
It’s a celestial “Family Dinner” for Lucifer and—that’s right—Daddy’s home
> “That’s enough!” Those were God’s/Dad’s (Dennis Haysbert) first words in his official introduction back in “Spoiler Alert,” Lucifer Season Five’s midseason finale. They were the words of a parent—as absent and withholding as He’s been—who might just have to turn this universe around if His kids don’t stop their petty fighting. And who could just turn this universe around, which is the… → Read More
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is an earnest, feel-good reboot—no more, no less
Game Changers captures the tone of the Mighty Ducks movies because it maintains the general goofiness and concept of heart above all else. → Read More
With "#PalmTreeReform," Mr. Mayor ends its wobbly first season on solid footing
It might come across as redundant to say this, considering the show’s general vibe, but “#PalmTreeReform” is quite the surreal episode of Mr. Mayor. Where Tina Fey’s script for “Respect In The Workplace” (which remains the series’ high point) hit the sweet spot of her and Carlock’s brand of rapid-fire comedy, Robert Carlock’s script for this episode focuses specifically on their bizarre approach… → Read More
Mr. Mayor finds some much-needed balance as it places "Hearts Before Parts"
“Hearts Before Parts” may be a saying that Mayor* Neil Bremer just makes up to remind his daughter Orly about all the (many) times he’s taught her about sex, but it’s also an integral component of what makes this episode of Mr. Mayor work so well. Of the constant internal battle (workplace sitcom versus family sitcom) that the series has going on, this is the episode (that fully includes both… → Read More
Mr. Mayor is hit with an "Avocado Crisis," slowing down its recent momentum
After two back-to-back episodes that presented a more fully-realized version of the show, “Avocado Crisis” returns Mr. Mayor back to its natural state of, “Well, that was pleasant enough.” (I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it was revealed that this episode was intended to be earlier in the season, even though it specifically highlights Bremer’s first 100 days* in office.) While it would be… → Read More
As Mr. Mayor finds "Respect In The Workplace," it also finds itself as a show
With both last week’s “Dodger Day” and this week’s “Respect In The Workplace,” Mr. Mayor currently feels like the show it was always* meant to be. More importantly, it feels like the show it was expected to be, all things considered. Bizarre, mile-a-minute jokes. Deranged goofs who also sort of care about each other... in between all of the physical pain they cause both themselves and others. A… → Read More