Putin-y

Paul Resika, Tower and Moon, 2009–10.
Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches. 

Today’s word is from Season 3, Episode 3 of the Hulu streaming series “Only Murders in the Building.” The episode, “Grab Your Hankies,” was written by Matteo Borghese and Rob Turbovsky. [Italics mine]

Oliver Putnam 

. . .  I’m workshopping the perfect date [with Loretta]. I mean, if I’m going to break my own rules and date one of the cast members, I have to do it with flair. Uh, current vision: lunch at the Russian Tea Room — or is that too Putin-y? 

Martin Short, who plays Oliver Putnam, is worth the price of Hulu admission. The way he pronounces glue is funny. His gestures and facial expressions are always full, never empty. Until now, I have never considered him more than a comedic actor, as opposed to a virtuoso. 

I’m tempted to write the word Putin-y as putiny. (I wonder how it reads in the shooting script.) Either way, it rhymes with scrutiny, gluten-y, and mutiny. Also brings to mind putrid and poo (as in dog ~).

Later in the episode, this comes along. 

Meryl Streep performing, magnificently, the new, original song “Look for the Light,” 

written by Sara Bareilles, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul, and arranged by Mac Huff. 

Why this is here, despite being the opposite of Putiny: It’s too good to pass up. 

It’s available on Spotify.

Random editorial: Unlike a gajillion TV shows featuring New York City apartments that look and cost nothing like New York City apartments, “Only Murders in the Building” features somewhat true-to-life apartments. Loretta’s apartment seems the apartment of a genuine life-long New Yorker.  Season 3 opens with a montage of Loretta, beginning with her as a young girl at the theatre and ending with her reading a play — my guess is that it’s Shakespeare — in her reading nook. So poignant is the reality that Loretta has spent more than fifty years as a “near-miss” in the theatre.

My bookshelves, partial view.