Category Archives: TV Reviews

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Old Friends, New Planets and Season Four- TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid end to a fascinating series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Walking across the bridge at the Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

We have reached the end of the season for Star Trek: Lower Decks of what has been a solid season for the series. However, when you have summoned the great ‘To Be Continued …’, you must ensure you live up to that hype. In today’s review, we will first tackle the season finale and then look at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Inner Fight, we discovered that the person behind all of the ship mutinies was former Starfleet Academy bad boy Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill). What is worse, he has just kidnapped Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and warped her away to his lair, where his fleet is kept. He is trying to start a revolution across space with a Genesis device to back it up. Starfleet is holding back so it does not accidentally cause a war, but Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) does not have the time to wait. We will be looking at the episode and series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Air Force Wong

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TL;DR – For the first time in a while, I think we actually saw some character progression for Rick

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.

Unity's ship lands in San Francisco.

Rick and Morty Review –

This season has been interesting in how safe they have felt. I am unsure if this safety was embedded before one of the creators left, and things got shifted up. Whatever the timeline might be, the outcome has been honestly quite forgettable. I had hoped that this season might pick up, and this episode is the first look that it might just be doing that.

So to set the scene, much to everyone’s surprise, Rick (Ian Cardoni) has been going to therapy with Dr Wong (Susan Sarandon) all by himself. He is even ignoring the calls of The President (Keith David) while there, which the President takes … well, not good. But when Virgina turns to love, and it appears that a Hive Mind (Christina Hendricks) has landed on Earth, it is time to get a crash course in couple’s therapy. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Loki: Heart of the TVA – TV Review

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TL;DR – It starts from 100 and then blasts ahead from there.   

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this show.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no End-Credit Scene.

The remins of a palace stuck in time.

Loki Review –

After a strong opening, last week’s 1893 was the first time I had pause to wonder if Season Two might not be on as firm a footing as I had first thought. But you can’t count your chickens before they hatch, and we still have half the season to go. With that in mind, let us jump into this episode before the episode starts a paradox it can’t fix.   

So to set the scene, after helping Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) escape with knowledge of the TVA because they were fighting. Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) make their way to the end of time to see the dead He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) and his crumbling palace. It is here that Miss Minutes reveals that Renslayer helped with the last war, like did most of it themselves, and well, maybe they don’t need another He Who Remains to run the TVA. Which is when Victor Timely arrives in a TVA and might be the only one who can save the world. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Inner Fight – TV Review

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TL;DR – A tail of two parts, one fascinating, the other frustrating.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Outpost Scientists.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

It is the penultimate of Star Trek: Lower Decks’ fifth season, and I wondered if the show could pull all those different threads together. Since the revelation at the start of the season about a mysterious ship destroying non-Federation vessels, it felt like we were barrelling towards something. Now it is time to see if that something was worth barrelling towards.

So to set the scene, we open in on Persioff IX, where a pair of Outpost Scientists are observing a local creature that spits acid and is covered in neurotoxin, and when things go wrong, Mariner (Tawny Newsome) rushes out to fix the problem herself. Her friends, Tendi (Noël Wells), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), have become concerned about this risk-taking behaviour, even the command crew. When Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) is concerned about your risk-taking behaviour, you know there is a problem. All they need to do is distract Mariner because they must pick up notorious risk taker Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) before he influences Mariner to do even more risky behaviour. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Absolute Beginners (Absolutni Debiutanci): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a fairly predictable story about a love triangle, but an engaged cast and more female perspective help elevate the material.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Two hand meet.

Absolute Beginners Review –

Earlier this year, we dipped our toes into Polish TV for the first time with the Sci-Fi/Romance romp called A Girl and an Astronaut. That was our gateway, but I wanted to spend more time in this world, and today’s review provided just such an occasion.

So to set the scene, we open on a sprint to Ustka, a resort town on the Polish Coastline. Here, Lena (Martyna Byczkowska) and Niko (Bartłomiej Deklewa) are making a mad dash to film around and catch up to a local train to help with their application to film school. Their mothers, Bogusia (Anna Krotoska) and Tamara (Katarzyna Warnke), have been friends since they were kids and now own a holiday home together where the families go each year. However, this year, both families are on the cusp of significant changes: moving to Italy, wondering if they are happy in their marriage, a wash of hormones affecting everything, which is a setting primed for danger even before Niko and Lena find Igor (Jan Sałasiński) alone struggling in the surf. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: The Jerrick Trap  

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TL;DR – This is another perfectly safe episode that does not go as far as it could have.

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.

Warning – Contains moments that may cause distress.

Jerry enters Rick's Lab.

Rick and Morty Review –

Last week’s How Poopy Got His Poop Back ushered in a new era for Rick and Morty and gave us a pretty okay episode. It’s not bad, but it’s not standing out, either. The question I had was this choice they made for just the first episode, or is this foretelling where the rest of the season is going? And I think we are at the latter.


So to set the scene, Jerry (Chris Parnell) is frustrated because one of the neighbours said they didn’t have his rake way too quickly, meaning they have his rake. Rick (Ian Cardoni) replies with one of his usual dismissive remarks. But this time, Jerry does not let it lie. He chastises Rick for not using his brain as much as he could. Incensed, Rick demands they swap brains to see who is the worst off, but not in a Freaky Friday way. Well, Rick cannot handle being in Jerry’s body for three seconds and ‘removes himself from the equation’, and Jerry has no way to control his new gadgets and crashes into the ceiling. This is not a good day for Rick’s computer (Kari Wahlgren). We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Loki: 1893 – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode of two halves, one fascinating and the other frustrating.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this show.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no End-Credit Scene.

Chicago

Loki Review –

This season of Loki has been delightfully refreshing, as it is clear that they have learned from their mistakes on the first time out. However, after setting up the narrative drive for the season, it is time to get into the meat of things, and that is when things could go awry.

So to set the scene, we opened in 1868 in Chicago, Illinois. After fleeing the TVA at the end of the last season, Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) jumped back to find Miss Minutes (Tara Strong). But the unpaved streets of Chicago were not where she expected to end up. Even more so when she discovers Miss Minutes’ plan. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Caves – TV Review

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TL;DR –  A charming clip of friends stuck in a cave.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

As Season Four of Star Trek Lower Decks progresses, I have been genuinely joyful about how the shake-up of promoting the team has let the show evolve its dynamic. But never one to shy away from a good reference. This week, we get not one but two deep cuts as we dive into the world of Star Trek caves.

So to set the scene, we open on the planet of Grottonus as the USS Cerritos orbits above. It has been an age since they were promoted, and for the first time, the old lower decks team of Boimler (Jack Quaid), Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) have all been put on the same away mission. Mariner is ecstatic right up until she discovers that it is a “cave mission”. Everyone else loves caves, but like clockwork, there is a tremor, and the away team is trapped. 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: How Poopy Got His Poop Back  

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TL;DR – While not a revolutionary episode, it wisely knew that bringing the gang back was the right thing to do as we step back into this universe.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Ghost Robot.

Rick and Morty Review –

We have a new season of Rick and Morty, a show I have both loved and become frustrated with in almost equal measures. They take wild swings of greatness that leave you awestruck and then follow it up with the most asinine story imaginable. However, we are entering its post-Justin Roiland era, so it is time to see if that changes the game or not.

So to set the scene, it is the first cold open of Season Seven, and suddenly, there is Mr. Poopybutthole (Jon Allen). Reversing his usual appearance at the end of the season, it is a deep despair as things have not gone well with his life. It has gotten so bad that Beth (Sarah Chalke) has put her foot down, and Rick (Ian Cardoni) must do something about Poopybutthole. Well, it is time to round up the team for an intervention. I just hope no one forgot a birthday. And is that Hugh Jackman (Hugh Jackman)? We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Continental (The Continental: From the World of John Wick): Theatre of Pain & Full Series – TV Review

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TL;DR – While the final episode sort of sticks the landing, the series is still a bit of a mess when you look at it as a whole.  

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

The Coin Press.

The Continental Review –

If there has been one disappointment this year, it has been the John Wick prequel about how Winston took over The Continental Hotel. So far, it has been full of missed opportunities and convoluted storylines. It was a bland entry into a fascinating universe. However, there is one more episode, and there is still a chance that they can stick the landing.

So to set the scene, it is D-Day as Winston (Colin Woodell) has his team come together to take out Cormac O’Connor (Mel Gibson) and usurp his position as head of the Continental Hotel. However, Charon (Ayomide Adegun) tipped Cormac off that something was afoot and sent his armies to stop it. But it just might be the meddling of the cops, as KD Silva (Mishel Prada) and Mayhew (Jeremy Bobb) start closing in. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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