Category Archives: TV Reviews

TV Review – Rick and Morty: Fear No Mort & Season 7

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TL;DR – A  reasonably strong end to an interesting season of experimentation.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Rick and Morty take fear advice from a random dude.

Rick and Morty Review –

Well, we have reached the end of what might be one of the oddest but possibly interesting seasons of Rick and Morty that I have seen for a while. So, in today’s review, we are going to first look at the season finale, which feels very much like it is having a dialogue with its viewers. Then, we will look at how the season works as a whole.

So to set the scene, Rick (Ian Cardoni) and Morty (Harry Belden) are off on a planet that is like one large haunted house, but nothing really scares them anymore, given everything they have seen in their lives. This is when they run into a Dude (Liev Schreiber) who tells them about the scariest place in the Universe is on Earth. At first, they are sceptical because they have to go to a Denny’s. However, when they find the fear hole in the men’s bathroom, things change really quickly. We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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NCIS: Sydney – Extraction– TV Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly contrived episode, but with some surprising moments of fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

While this season of NCIS Sydney has been chiefly okay so far, last week’s Doggieccino Day Afternoon was the first time I was very concerned that they might not be able to pull this off. Thus, it is with some trepidation that start this episode about gym-bros and the things they keep in their back rooms.

So to set the scene, we open as a dude (Michael Jupp) is skulking around taking photos of chemical labels when he gets spooked. He tried to play it cool as he walked through the gym to the outside world, but he got rumbled and had to run. A couple of hits by a car and a slide down a hill later, he had almost escaped onto a bus when he falls to the floor dead, and we discover that the dude has an American Naval jacket. But more than that, it might be that one of the team knows our John Doe. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Jet Lag: The Game: Artic Escape – We Raced From America’s Northernmost to Southernmost Town – Nebula Review

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TL;DR – This is the start of a fantastic time as they race across America.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The first Flop.

Jet Lag: The Game Review –

One of the joys I have discovered the past year [thank you to my brother for recommending it] is the wonderful Jet Lag: The Game. This is a weird geography game starring Adam Chase, Sam Denby, Ben Doyle & guests. Geography, Maps, Chaos, and Chasing, count me in. Each new season is a different game, and with the new one starting today, well, we thought it would be an excellent time to explore just why this series works as well as it does.

So to set the scene, Jet Lag: The Game is always some sort of geography competition. In this season, the two teams are racing from the most northern town in the United States of America, Utqiagvik, Alaska, to the southernmost, Key West, Florida. The way the game works is that to go anywhere, you have to unlock a mode of transportation by performing challenges. Once a challenge has been completed, it is locked from the other team. Oh, should I add that there is only one ticket out of Utqiagvik today. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Monarch: Legacy of Monsters – The Way Out – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first week where we have an almost restrained jump around the timeline.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Monarch holding facility in Alaska.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Review –

It has been a couple of good years for Godzilla, and this year has been no exception. But coming off the hot heals of the delightful Godzilla Minus One, we dive back into the world of intrigue and more than a bit of family dysfunction.

So to set the scene, at the end of Parallels and Interiors, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe), May (Kiersey Clemons), and an old Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) got rescued by the skin of their teeth just before they became titan food, or just succumb to the Alaskan Cold. The only issue is that their rescuers were Monarch who imprisoned them. Deputy Director Natalia Verdugo (Mirelly Taylor) and Duvall (Elisa Lasowski) wonder just what to do with the group and decide to let them go with a long leach to see what they dig up. Well, one quick trip from Nome, Alaska, to the ruins of San Fransisco because if their father had one secret office, he might have a second. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Mort: Ragnarick

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TL;DR – A classic episode structured in such a way that it knows it will get complaints from an entire religious organisation.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Valhalla.

Rick and Morty Review –

As we continue through this very disjointed and somewhat experimental season, culminating in last week’s Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie, which was a Rick and Morty episode without Rick. Well, it’s almost as if they knew the response to that episode and prepared accordingly because this week’s episode, named after Thor: Ragnarok, is almost like a classic episode writ large, including a b-plot for a change.

So to set the scene, after killing Jerry (Chris Parnell) multiple times to confirm, Rick (Ian Cardoni) finds out that there are “heavens” of some sort. But Rick, being Rick, wants to tap into that unlimited energy, and it can be just any kind of heaven. So, he and Morty (Harry Belden) go to Norway, where he gets Bigfoot () to kill him so he can go to Ragnarok. It’s a solid plan. I just sure hope nothing goes wrong. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Giggle – TV Review

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TL;DR – A riot of dancing and murder as a villain from the deep past returns and carves up the screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – Many, many messed up dolls.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, it has been a ride, but today, we have come to the end of the three Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. We started with Donna (Catherine Tate) and The Doctor (David Tennant) getting back together in The Star Beast. Then we got weird with Wild Blue Yonder, which harkened back to a classic episode of the show. But all of these come to their fruition tonight when we get an old villain returning, some good friends, oh and probably a regeneration.

So to set the scene, in Soho in 1925, there was a toy maker who was unnerving in the extreme, with a German accent that seemed to slip. I mean, what could be the worst thing to be sent on the first TV signal but a burning doll head? Back in the Today, at the end of Wild Blue Yonder, The Doctor and Donna crash land back into the alley they left in The Star Beastto find Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) waiting for them. Because everyone else has gone into hiding as the world falls apart. Because everyone thinks they are right all the time, and they will not back down for anything. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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NCIS: Sydney – Doggieccino Day Afternoon – TV Review

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TL;DR – A tale of two episodes, one fascinating, the other deeply frustrating.   

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

A dog playground.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Today, we look at a case study of what happens when you take an exciting idea and then weigh it down with unnecessary factors that end up taking away from the fascinating idea you had at the start.

So to set the scene, Doctor Roy Penrose (William McInnes) is at a dog café with his dog, of course, when a young girl, Louie (Josie Rawson), who is clearly bleeding, comes in. Even more concerning is the sounds of sirens that follow and the reveal that she has explosives strapped to her chest. If anyone goes through the door or cuts her feed, then the whole place goes boom. Oh, and to make things worse, there is a dead cop in the mix. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie

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TL;DR – Asks the question, can you do an episode of Rick and Morty without Rick? And the answer is: sure.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Moments befroe the death of Q

Rick and Morty Review –

It can be hard to break when you have built your show around some bedrock principles, so you have enshrined them in your show’s title. Well, if this season of Rick and Morty is known for one thing, it is breaking with what they have established in the past, and this time that is, can you have a Rick and Morty episode without Rick?

So to set the scene, Morty (Harry Belden) has one of those rare moments where he is not out on an adventure with Rick (Ian Cardoni) and is instead at Harry Herpson High School in Mr. Goldenfold’s (Brandon Johnson) math class. After getting detention, he is held back, which is when Water-T (Dan Harmon) arrives because the Numbericons have invaded his planet and killed his father, Helium-Q (Ice-T). Now, only Goldenfold can save them. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder – TV Review

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TL;DR – it is all fine and dandy to declare that one should cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, but what it the universe was listening?

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

TARDIS in time and space.

Doctor Who Review –

One of the things that defines Doctor Who is how it uses all its sci-fi gadgetry to solve all the many, many odd situations they find themselves in. But what if you striped that all away? Could they survive? But more so, does the show work?

So to set the scene, we open in England in 1666, where Isaac Newton (Nathaniel Curtis) is about to go out and have an excellent idea under an apple tree. When the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) come crashing into the tree he is sitting under. For you see, at the end of The Star Beast, Donna “accidentally” spilled some coffee on the TARDIS console, and it is a little out of control. After a crash and some flames, the Doctor had to put the TARDIS in rebuild mode, so it was time to work out where they ended up. I mean it should be fine, they have air, light, mavaity, what could go wrong? Which is the point the TARDIS runs away. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Monarch: Legacy of Monsters – Parallels and Interiors – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first week where we have an almost restrained jump around the timeline.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Review –

After racing forward, you need to consolidate your gains or at least reveal some of the cards you are working with. For Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, that time is now, because things are starting to hit the fan.  

So to set the scene, we open in on Utah, 2015, where Barnes is sitting watch at Outpost 47, and some weird beeping comes from her equipment, a piece of equipment that should not be getting set off. Coincidently, at the end of Secrets and Lies, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe), May (Kiersey Clemons), and an old Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) come face to face with a monster that breathes cold air, and it is not happy they just landed on its mountain. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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