Hit & Miss

Hit & Miss: Man, this is one nutty show!  But if there's a program on television that's a sign-o'-the-times, this is it. Nothing on the idiot box better reflects our culture's sexual confusion, family dysfunction and embrace of violence as the solution to all problems.  And as a cherry-on-top, it stars zeitgeist girl Chloe Sevigny.  Ms. Sevigny plays Mia, an Irish MtF transgender hit man. . er, hit girl. . .er, hit it?. . .[and, oh, Sevigny's prosthetic penis (!) is more believable than her Irish accent]. . .but, whatever. . .anyway. . .Mia leads a spartan existence while casually killing people for a fat gangster, saving his/her earnings for his/her sex change operation.  Of course, complications arise.  It turns out eleven or twelve years past, when Mia was a carny drifter (!) named Ryan, he had a West Yorkshire girlfriend. . .after their inevitable breakup, the girlfriend kept a little secret from Ryan/Mia.  As Hit & Miss begins, the solitary Mia learns via a letter of guardianship his/her old girlfriend has died. . .and that the former gf has named him/her as guardian of her four children, one of whom, surprise!, Mia learns she/he fathered.   Poor Mia, just as she's about to put away all her male baggage, she learns she's a dad. . .needless to say, this really puts the zap on his/her head.   Reluctantly, he/she visits his/her ex-lover's dreary chicken farm (!) to meet her son and her step(?)-children. . . with the step(?)-children turning out to be a real mixed bag of angry, resentful mulattoes and rapturous urchins.  Mia, who's used to quickly solving his/her problems with a Glock and a silencer, is more than a little perplexed at how to manage a household full of skeezers, juvenile delinquents and a kOOky little girl who could get kicked out of Wonderland for being too dreamy. And it's a bit of a brave new world for the kids, too, going from a single mom household to a grieving no mom household to a single he/she mommy/daddy household.  All-in-all, a situation ripe for conflict, as they say.  Throw in a few melodramatic subplots about the skeezer girl's relationship with a loutish farmer, Mia's own peek-a-boo affair with a local yokel, and her sick carny family reunion, and you got one wild story arc for a six episode series.  And, in truth, it is a ridiculous story. . .but it's set in a grimly realistic, depressing environment, and the latchkey kids are so utterly and convincingly fucked up (these kids make Sevigny's early career Kids seem hopeful), you're willing to swallow the prostethic penis (er. . .you know) and all the other nonsense. And if watching Mia, in a series of starts and stops, and with parenting skills that would put him/her at #1 on Child Protective Services Most Wanted List, struggle with his/her commitment to his/her new family isn't enough to keep you watching, there's always the frequent freak show interludes to keep you coming back for more.  Here's one of my favorites:

Now that's entertainment!