Category Archives: TV Reviews

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Case of the Chiaroscuro [S4E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This could have been a very silly episode of Star Trek, but there was some real heart and design that helped elevate the story.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

End Credit – There is a mid-credit scene

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

It feels like this season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been all about the curveballs, and today’s entry is no exception. It uses sci-fi technobabble to explain why a whole episode is broadcast in black and white. But as silly as this sounds, it is a choice that I can’t help but love seeing played out.

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise is on a secret mission near the border of Klingon Space. The Angelo-1 probe lost power and slipped past the border near the Mat’Aaran system, which could reignite a war if found. Una (Rebecca Romijn), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) have slipped across the border in a shuttle hidden because the local sun puts out energy that affects visual receptors and makes things hard to spot on scanners. But that scanner issue can cut both ways, and the shuttle is forced to hide on Mat’Aar XII, an occupied Klingon planet, to avoid a D7 battle cruiser. The crew must blend in with the local population until a window of escape can be found. But Una discovers that she might be wrapped into the fabric of this world more than she expects. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reacher: City of Brotherly Love [S4E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Reacher has a nasty habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Philadelphia skyline.

Reacher Review Introduction

I was captivated by Reacher in its first two seasons. Season One was a breath of fresh air in a very stale genre, and Season Two escalated that to new heights. However, I came off Season Three with a real concern that the wind might be going out of this franchise. Well, today, we will dive into the first episode of the new season to see if it can buck off the languishing legacy of last season and forge new ground.

So, to set the scene, it is 2:18 am in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is taking one of the last trains for the night when he notices a woman in clear distress, her hands hidden in a bag. Fearing the inevitable disaster, he tries to talk the lady down from the coming disaster. But when he lies to say he is a cop, hoping that will stop the escalation, it has the opposite result. Reacher feels like he failed the woman in her hour of need, but worse, every department in the federal government is now very interested in a suicide on an early morning train. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Human Best Friend [S4E3] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Star Trek tries to do a Farscape episode; it has its moments, but it had completely fallen apart by the time the credits rolled.  

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

End Credit – There is a mid-credit scene

An Andorian and Edosian partying.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

Throughout the history of Star Trek, there has been the ‘shore leave episode’. They are a staple of the franchise, and there have been the highs of the titular Original Series episode Shore Leave and the lows of Deep Space Nine’s Let He Who Is Without Sin… Today Strange New Worlds is taking a swing at it and commits a bit too much in places and not enough in others.

So, to set the scene, back in Valles Marineris, it was mentioned that the crew has been going over six months without a break, and last week’s dive into horror, The Griffin Incident, probably didn’t help the situation. Understanding that tensions are fraught and the crew is heading into a difficult negotiation to end the civil war on Rodaxia, Pike (Anson Mount) decides that all the Alpha Shift needs to take some recreational leave. Thankfully, the hotel planet Cesnar is along the way. A planet whose atmosphere is intoxicating and brings everyone along on a journey. I mean, what is the worst that could happen if the whole bridge crew is high at the same time? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Ride or Die: Season One – TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid, engaging romp that felt like it would have been better in a more contained version.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service used to view this series.

A wanted leaflet for our two main cast.

Ride or Die Review Introduction

I have been wanting something new in the spy genre for a while now to scratch that subterfuge action itch I have been having in a world where we still don’t know who the new Bond is. But while I am happy to dive into something old, I am also always ready for something new, and today we look at the latter.

So, to set the scene, Debbie (Octavia Spencer) is an American who married a British politician and has been content to follow that world, building up power bases for her husband behind the scenes, while also enjoying her love of aggressive antique hunting. Her best friend is Judith (Hannah Waddingham), who is an assassin, but not that Debbie knows that. They enjoy a world that includes not making fun of the lady in book club with the awful new haircut, well at least not her face. But all of that slightly falls apart when Judith is tasked with taking out Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein) and accidentally walks into an Albanian mob deal that includes David (Jamie Parker), Debbie’s husband. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Ted Lasso: Home [S4E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A Kansas City detour to set up the season.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Ted Lasso Assistant Manager.

Ted Lasso Review Introduction

Well, it is time for some more Ted Lasso. Now, I am on the record as being very fond of the series, even the weird episodes of Season One, Season Two, and Season Three. But I, like many, thought we were doneski, so colour me shocked when Season Four appeared from the ether. But given the time and the landscape, can it recapture that joy? That is what we are looking at today.

So to set the scene, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) has spent the last few years being the best day he can be to his son Henry (Grant Feely). But instead of coaching football or soccer, Ted is an assistant manager at a local supermarket. But then one day a surprise arrives in town. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift), and Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) have arrived with a mission. They want Ted to come back and coach their new women’s football team. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Griffin Incident [S4E2] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an episode that leans hard into horror.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The USS Griffin hanging quiet in space.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

Throughout the history of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, it has had the habit of dipping into different genres for a surprise episode. See, for example, the musical episode Subspace Rhapsody. But there is one genre that they have danced around but never dived into: supernatural horror. Well, today is the day it commits.  

So, to set the scene, Spock (Ethan Peck), La’An (Christina Chong), and Kirk (Paul Wesley) are all hitching a lift home with each other from the Future Federation Leader’s conference. When they pick up an odd distress call coming from an asteroid field. Of the many things they were expecting, nothing prepared them for the USS Griffin, a ship lost for nine years, light-years away from its current location. They beam aboard, and for some reason the ship has power when it should have lost it years ago, but things take a turn when they have only one hour to find out what happened to the ship before it all shuts down. Even more so when someone lurks in the hallways with them. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Stuart Fails to Save the Universe – Spoiler: Gary Dies [S1E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a wild premise for a show, and I think it just might work.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service used to view this series.

Welcome to Pasadena sign.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Review Introduction

Today we look at what might be one of the weirdest spin-offs from a TV Show that I have ever seen. The world of The Big Bang Theory has indeed had a long reach, but I am not sure that anyone was ready for the general pitch that was this series. However, it is so wild, it just might work.

So, to set the scene, we open on a broken and ruined Pasadena that has suffered a grand apocalypse. There are giant moths in the sky, zombies in the ground, and yet Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) is still running his comic shop, where consumers like Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn) trade food for what comics are left. But when a Stuart from another timeline slides in and explains that the destruction is not meant to happen, but a failed quantum-entanglement-thing created by the core gang from The Big Bang Theory has destroyed everything. Stuart and Bert have a quest to save the universe, but will they survive the walk to the end of the street first? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Valles Marineris [S4E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – An opening episode that both delighted and profoundly frustrated me.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

Pike riding across an alien planet on a horse.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

Today is a little bit of a bittersweet moment. For we have new Star Trek, which is always a delight; however, it is also the start of what we now know is a countdown to the end of an era, with no new Star Trek shows currently in production. Still, with three seasons left to enjoy, it is time to jump into this latest adventure, complete with a touch of time travel.

So, to set the scene, we open on horses cruising across an alien landscape after Pike (Anson Mount) undertakes a little undercover Prime Directive shenanigans. The USS Enterprise has spent six months on non-stop missions, giving the crew little time to dwell on the events of New Life and New Civilizations. But waiting for Pike when he comes back is Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) with a recommendation for a promotion; he has to make up his mind after the next mission. A completely normal mission that should not go wrong; it is just a subspace storm after all. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Among Us (2026): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an almost perfect adaptation of the original game, full of tasks, murder, and voting people to their doom.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

The whole crew around a pizza party table.

Among Us Review Introduction

Back at the heart of COVID in 2020, there were a few things that helped get us through it. One of those was this weird little hidden role game where you set yourself a bunch of tasks to complete on a spaceship while one or more of you are aliens trying to kill you. Now, I played a lot of Among Us during this time, and my self-reports were legendary. Which means I am very interested to see how this animated adaptation turned out.   

So, to set the scene, deep in an asteroid field, a bunch of new employees, Green (Elijah Wood) and White (Patton Oswalt), for the MIRA Corporation, have begun the trip up to their new ship. Fun. Engagement. Fun-Gagement. These are the pillars of MIRA. All they have to do is take this new Ore+ from the asteroid to Industria, a simple trip. As Orange (Yvette Nicole Brown) gives them a tour of the ship and the crew, including the doctor Blue (Dan Stevens), we find a whole bunch of quirky characters for a trip like this. It all looks to be going swimmingly, well, you would hate it if there was a secret imposter on board wanting to take everyone else out one by one. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Citadel: Baked Alaskas [S2:E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A stronger start, but the jury is still out if it can rebound from a very mixed first outing.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

A computer screen with information on Frank Sharpe.

Citadel Review Introduction

Back in 2023, one of the few ambitious projects in the streaming era started. I mean, what is the point of having a global streaming conglomerate if you are not going to do something with it? Citadel and its Spyverse were going to be a worldwide streaming universe where different countries would add to the growing lore. Conceptionally fascinating, practically quite a mess, with Season One devolving into massive expensive reshoots, which didn’t help the promotion of the spin-offs Diana & Honey Bunny. But the series has been improving with each iteration, so it is time to see if the original series can continue the charge, or if this is the last hurrah.

So, to set the scene, everyone has gone into hiding after the events of Season One. But the reach of Manticore is large, and soon, nowhere is safe to hide. In England, a smuggler is enjoying a party only to have his entire security taken out by Hutch (Jack Reynor), for he is hunting for Paolo Braga (Gabriel Leone), who didn’t suspect that the item that was being smuggled was none other than Bernard (Stanley Tucci). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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