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Leave the World Behind, Blue Eye Samurai, A Murder At the End of the World, Fargo, Slow Horses and some art.

I have a really good story (for me, at least) about Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind” but not one part of that story is about the movie, which was not only a super downer (which I’m fine with) but also manipulative and boring and badly done (which I’m not).

But before going there I just wanted to note for the record that in my new incarnation of trying to be positive and zen and delightful and shit like that — which entails just skipping and/or not writing about bad stuff — I sometimes fail and fall well short of that higher state.

I apologize for my shortcomings.

So here’s the part where I say, before I forget and wash it from memory, that Ep. 4 of FX’s “A Murder At the End of the World” was one of the dumbest hours of supposedly quality television that I’ve seen in a really long time.

Like, anvil on the head dumb.

I’m not sure what they’re doing with “A Murder At the End of the World,” but I’m absolutely sure of what they are NOT doing, which is “playing three dimensional chess.”

It’s just bad writing, people. Bad, bad, writing. I thought that after Ep. 3 and Ep. 4 was just the dagger. It’s like dumb on dumb.

See? There I go.

It’s hard to be nice when there’s bad television. I want to say some positive things — and in fact I’m going to say some astonishingly upbeat things about a few shows below — but I also thought I would squeeze in a few painfully true things about “Blue Eye Samurai” (which just got renewed, I believe, for a second season) while some of this bile has come up unexpectedly:

I wish it were better.

It’s not that thing I wish that it was. Not a huge crime, but still unfortunate. High hopes and all.

I mean, I still don’t understand why so much (but not all!) writing for animation has to be so bad on the drama side when it’s often brilliant on the comedy side. “Blue Eye Samurai” is a show I’ll probably maybe who knows continue to watch because I’m curious where the plot goes, but that also means I have to listen to the words being spoken.

(Publisher’s note, which just came to me): Do you know what would make a great, not very expensive and totally worth it present to someone else who watches television this holiday season? Yes, you’re right: A gift subscription.