John Powers

They all figure in a storyline chock-full of betrayal, theft, infidelity, and murder. Juicy stuff. Not to mention Koop's sardonic voiceover, mocking the country club fees and fetishized brands of scotch that define the suburban enclave he now disdains. The show's emotional center is Koop's struggle to cope with his ex-wife and disaffected teenage children.

They all figure in a storyline chock-full of betrayal, theft, infidelity, and murder. Juicy stuff. Not to mention Koop's sardonic voiceover, mocking the country club fees and fetishized brands of scotch that define the suburban enclave he now disdains. The show's emotional center is Koop's struggle to cope with his ex-wife and disaffected teenage children.

They all figure in a storyline chock-full of betrayal, theft, infidelity, and murder. Juicy stuff. Not to mention Koop's sardonic voiceover, mocking the country club fees and fetishized brands of scotch that define the suburban enclave he now disdains. The show's emotional center is Koop's struggle to cope with his ex-wife and disaffected teenage children.

Here he's just dropped his son off after school when Mill rebukes him because this isn't one of the days he's supposed to see the kids. What are you doing here?

Here he's just dropped his son off after school when Mill rebukes him because this isn't one of the days he's supposed to see the kids. What are you doing here?

Here he's just dropped his son off after school when Mill rebukes him because this isn't one of the days he's supposed to see the kids. What are you doing here?

In recent years, we've grown used to shows in which alpha males like Coop all but wear a tattoo that reads, Toxic Masculinity.

In recent years, we've grown used to shows in which alpha males like Coop all but wear a tattoo that reads, Toxic Masculinity.

In recent years, we've grown used to shows in which alpha males like Coop all but wear a tattoo that reads, Toxic Masculinity.

I'm pleased that Tropper takes the show someplace subtler, juggling the truth that his hero can be at once a wounded soul with whom one often identifies and a self-centered man who oozes entitlement from his Princeton degree in Maserati to his discovery that the world's unfair, only after it's been unfair to him.

I'm pleased that Tropper takes the show someplace subtler, juggling the truth that his hero can be at once a wounded soul with whom one often identifies and a self-centered man who oozes entitlement from his Princeton degree in Maserati to his discovery that the world's unfair, only after it's been unfair to him.

I'm pleased that Tropper takes the show someplace subtler, juggling the truth that his hero can be at once a wounded soul with whom one often identifies and a self-centered man who oozes entitlement from his Princeton degree in Maserati to his discovery that the world's unfair, only after it's been unfair to him.

It's a perfect role for Ham, who carries with him our memories of Don Draper's dark-souled charisma, then takes this sort of character in a new direction, funnier, sadder, and more sympathetic. He's never been better. Although his coup starts out as a self-described jerk, his character grows wiser and more self-aware as the episodes unfold.

It's a perfect role for Ham, who carries with him our memories of Don Draper's dark-souled charisma, then takes this sort of character in a new direction, funnier, sadder, and more sympathetic. He's never been better. Although his coup starts out as a self-described jerk, his character grows wiser and more self-aware as the episodes unfold.

It's a perfect role for Ham, who carries with him our memories of Don Draper's dark-souled charisma, then takes this sort of character in a new direction, funnier, sadder, and more sympathetic. He's never been better. Although his coup starts out as a self-described jerk, his character grows wiser and more self-aware as the episodes unfold.

Trouble is, robbery is a risky business that requires expertise more than self-knowledge. As his fence Lou warns him, nothing is so dangerous as somebody who doesn't know what they don't know. Watching your friends and neighbors, I found myself thinking that in some huge ways, today's suburbs are undeniably better than they once were.

Trouble is, robbery is a risky business that requires expertise more than self-knowledge. As his fence Lou warns him, nothing is so dangerous as somebody who doesn't know what they don't know. Watching your friends and neighbors, I found myself thinking that in some huge ways, today's suburbs are undeniably better than they once were.

Trouble is, robbery is a risky business that requires expertise more than self-knowledge. As his fence Lou warns him, nothing is so dangerous as somebody who doesn't know what they don't know. Watching your friends and neighbors, I found myself thinking that in some huge ways, today's suburbs are undeniably better than they once were.

They're less exclusively white, and the wives have fulfilling careers. But in other ways, they feel worse. Tropper offers little of the tender lyricism that makes Cheever's suburbs so seductive. It's not just that Coop's world is more grossly materialistic than before, with Rolls Royces and 40-gram bottles of wine—

They're less exclusively white, and the wives have fulfilling careers. But in other ways, they feel worse. Tropper offers little of the tender lyricism that makes Cheever's suburbs so seductive. It's not just that Coop's world is more grossly materialistic than before, with Rolls Royces and 40-gram bottles of wine—