Full Frontal Episode Review: Samantha Bee: BREXIT and Beyond

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When you consider the startling nature of the recent news from overseas, it is not surprising that host Samantha Bee decided to open her latest edition of Full Frontal with an examination of the British people’s vote to leave the European Union. You know, the thing that dyslexic people like me first view as the brisket, but which is, upon second examination, the dreaded BREXIT.

Having started on that note, she then moved on, but not entirely. The next segment was somewhat tied to the opener, and the third to the second, so that, in the end, her whole show was more or less about this event. More about that later.

Ms. Bee’s observations about the brisket—damn, there I went again. I really should start writing these pieces after, not before lunch—were witty and right to the point, as we might expect. She closed them out with the correct observation that Donald Trump happened to be in Scotland in search of yet even more pelf, when the vote took place. That gave her the opportunity to devote the last part of the segment to the Republican nominee elect’s reaction to the situation, as well as most of Scotland’s reaction to him provided by a guest Scotsman.

The next segment of Full Frontal picked up on the xenophobia that was such a driving factor in Great Britain’s vote to leave the EU and brought it home. The comparison between the bigoted, crude ex-mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump was not a particularly difficult one to draw. I would tend to agree with Ms. Bee’s observations, except maybe I’d give Johnson credit for a good deal more intelligence and class (that he so clearly lacks) than his back-across-the-pond equivalent.

In the third segment, the host took on the hatred and mistrust of Islam that seems to be the case throughout the Christian world, but particularly here in the U.S. Citing the voiced feelings of many that “they” are all in this together, she interviewed a Muslim cleric in Dearborn, Michigan—a city with a significant Muslim population. This bit made me cringe a little because if she had not taken this fellow aside before the taping and told him this was to be a total leg-pull, she would have come across as the worst sort of “gotcha” journalist. Still, it was an entertaining and informative enough segment.

Oh, right, she did add a short afterword on a different subject in which she briefly celebrated the Supreme Court for a very important decision it made the other day. You know which one I mean, right? Yes, the one about whether or not leash laws shall apply to prize-winning show cats. What a burden off our minds!

Full Frontal, TBS, June 27, 2016

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Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.