Category Archives: TV Reviews

The Continental (The Continental: From the World of John Wick): Brothers in Arms – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a perfectly okay introduction, but by attaching itself to this world, it wrote checks that it has so far been unable to cash.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Standing alone in a crowded subway platform.

The Continental Review –

If there has been one world that has delighted me over the last decade, it has been John Wick and its universe. Indeed, I wrote a whole article on how it was a Masterclass in Visual Storytelling and Worldbuilding. The more we heard about this world, the more fascinated I was with it. However, prequels are always dicey propositions, as we see today.

So to set the scene, it is 1955 in New York City, and a young Winston is learning the hard life that can come from the world he is in. Years later, we find a world of sex, drugs, and club techno as the world sings in a new year. But that is not just any New Year’s Eve party. It is one held in The Continental, and as they countdown to ‘Happy New Year, ’ something goes boom. But there are some rules that you just don’t break. 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: Lower Decks: Something Borrowed, Something Green – TV Review

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TL;DR – We delve into Orion culture one dagger to the shoulder at a time

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
USS Cerritos

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

The one thing that Star Trek: Lower Decks has worked hard at is finding that middle line between being a comedic take on the Star Trek universe and being a show that would fit in that universe. While you can see that love in every single Easter Egg [there are so many]. But they don’t always get that balance right. Today, we get a fantastic example of what an episode can be when they walk that narrow line.

So to set the scene, the Lower Decks gang is still getting used to the new world where they are Lieutenant (j.g.). It comes with perks like not living in a corridor and being able to finish all your tasks for the day, but it also comes with responsibilities. For Tendi (Noël Wells), that means going back to Orion because her sister is getting married, and Starfleet wants to make a good impression after an Irion ship mysteriously vanished. Tendi is understandably hesitant, even more so when T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) and Mariner (Tawny Newsome) tag along. But hey, it is not like her sister will get kidnapped just before the wedding? … Right? … Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Wars: Ahsoka – Part Six: Far, Far Away – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get a story from a galaxy far, far away.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The hyperspace sled approaches the whale graveyard.

Ahsoka Review –

Last week with Shadow Warrior, we got the middle point of the narrative, laying out where everything will be heading. However, while all that was going on, there was part of the story that was absent. The driving force of the season so far. The only question is, was it worth the wait?

So to set the scene, as Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Huyang (David Tennant) hop on a ride from a star whale heading to a galaxy far, far away. Lord Baylan (Ray Stevenson), Shin (Ivanna Sakhno), Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), and Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) rocket into a floating graveyard and the ancestral home of Morgan. But the anticipation does not have to wait for long as the Grand Mothers (Claudia Black, Jeryl Prescott Gallien & Jane Edina Seymour) announce that Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) is on his way. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Neighbours (Neighbours: A New Chapter) – S41 Ep. 8904 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was a fascinating jolt of nostalgia, but I am not sure it has the sticking power to be more than that.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I watched this on 10 Play.

Neighbours Review –

If there is an Australian that has made it big overseas, there is a more than reasonable chance that they spent some time on Neighbours [or Home and Away, but we are not talking about that today]. Guy Pearce, Luke Hemsworth, Cleopatra Coleman, Russell Crowe, Ben Mendelsohn, Liam Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia, Jesse Spencer, Dichen Lachman, Alan Dale, Daniel MacPherson, and Kylie Minogue, just to name few. So, it was a bit sad when the show came to a somewhat sudden stop last year. In the way that seeing an old cornerstone come to an end, you’ll understand when they finally put Simpsons to rest. But a year later, life has sprung back to Ramsey Street, and it is time to see if this is a rebirth or a lumbering zombie.

So to set the scene, it has been two years since we last checked in to the gang on Ramsey Street, a small cul-de-sac in the suburb of Erinsborough, Melbourne. When we last left the street, everyone was putting on a wedding. Well, time is nothing but a circle because as we meet everyone again, we discover them all getting ready for the next nuptials. Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) are letting their old friend Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) crash at their house. But if there is one thing that sums up Ramsey Street, the more it stays the same, the more it changes as a new family moves in and a mysterious woman, Reece Sinclair (Mischa Barton), arrives at the local hotel. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Foundation: Creation Myths & Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – The crisis climbs to a crescendo as cracks cascade over a crumbling continuum of chance and causality.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The death of Terminus.

Foundation Review –

Well, we have come to the end of the second season, and what a fascinating season it was. Adapting novels to work in a visual medium is no small feat, let alone one of the founding icons of Science Fiction. Taking a selection of interconnected short stories and making them work as a whole and in a framework that will work with a modern audience is a tightrope to pull off, and today, we will see just how well they have managed this task.  

So to set the scene, we open in the moments after Long Ago, Not Far Away ended by discovering just how Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) survived being very dead, so dead that even Salvor (Leah Harvey) believed he had passed. A trick from Gaal (Lou Llobell) so powerful that not even Tellem Bond (Rachel House) sees through the deception. As Terminus lays there as a flaming ruin, with Brother Day’s (Lee Pace) fleet in orbit, the question becomes, how can psychohistory’s plan continue from here? When all we know has been left in ruins. But when a sensor is tripped, Demerzel (Laura Birn) soon discovers that secrets can escape no matter how much you try to control them. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Star Wars: Ahsoka – Part Five: Shadow Warrior – TV Review

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TL;DR – A blast into the past and a push into the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Dual on the astral bridge.

Ahsoka Review –

One of the first things I mentioned back in Part One: Master and Apprentice is that I was coming into this series without watching the Rebels or Clone Wars animated shows that were being used as the springboard for both the characters and the narrative. I had wondered if this would be a show where you could follow what is going on if you were not coming in with all that extra homework. Well, today, we get the best litmus test for that.  

So to set the scene, last week’s Fallen Jedi did not end on the best note for everyone. Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) was tempted by Lord Baylan (Ray Stevenson) about the chance to be reunited with her lost friend and didn’t destroy the map. While Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) was thrown from the cliffside into the waters below. Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and the cavalry arrived, but it was not quick enough to stop Morgan Elsbeth’s (Diana Lee Inosanto) Hyperspace sled from jumping off into galaxies unknown. But what is waiting for Ahsoka in the ever after is not what she was expecting … a battle. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Foundation: Long Ago, Not Far Away– TV Review

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TL;DR – The calamity of capriciousness causes crisis conflagration.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

A jail for an andriod.

Foundation Review –

As we crash into the end of the season with today’s penultimate episode, there is a building wonder as to whether this season can stick the landing. It has pulled in so many different directions. Will that work when you bring everything back together? Well, this is what we will explore today.

So to set the scene, in The Last Empress, we discovered that Demerzel (Laura Birn) might, in fact, be the actual Empire, using the cloned dynasty almost as a shield to obscure her power. Today’s episode starts with her story of discovery, imprisonment, and how Cleon I (Terrence Mann) rescued/imprisoned her. But while this is happening, Brother Day/ Cleon XVII (Lee Pace) is going to Trantor looking to bring the Foundation down. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Wars: Ahsoka – Part Four: Fallen Jedi– TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an episode that dwells on the weight of choices

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Ahsoka and Sabine ponder what to do next.

Ahsoka Review –

Thinking back on this season, it has been interesting, but I have not found the depths that many other people have with the show. I think part of that is that I am not coming with the wealth of experience from The Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows we draw from. However, this week, I am starting to see hints of what others revel in: destruction and creation coming in equal measures.

So to set the scene, in Time to Fly, Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson), Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and Huyang (David Tennant) discovered that Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) has been building a giant hyperspace ship able to jump between galaxies. She wants to jump to where they think Thrawn ended up, bringing the last living Imperial Fleet Admiral back from the dead. Even though their ship has crashed, and they are stuck on the planet, the team has to do something to stop the map from being decoded before it is too late. 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: Lower Decks: Twovix – TV Review

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TL;DR – Not all the story worked, but jumping back into this world was still a delight.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The USS Cerritos approaches the Star Base.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

After a stellar final season of Star Trek: Picard and a stunning follow-up season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, surely there is nothing left of Star Trek in 2023 … right? Well, hold on to your horses because Lower Decks is back and committing to changing one of its core features, changing the tone of the show … okay, not that much.

So to set the scene, the USS Cerritos has been sent on its most secretive mission so far. No one knows why they have been sent to this starbase until the lights turn on and everyone witnesses the joy that is the USS Voyager [Insert theme song here]. They have to escort the now museum ship to its permanent resting place. This should be a breeze, but Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) lets Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) know he is up for a promotion, just as long as he fails spectacularly. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Foundation: The Last Empress – TV Review

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TL;DR – The culminating catastrophe coalesces.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Many Seldons

Foundation Review –

I was captivated back in Season 1 of Foundation. This book was challenging to adapt, and the show did it interestingly. This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster, and I wonder if they have a plan of where it is going. Today’s episode might be the answer, maybe.

So to set the scene, deep in the capital of Trantor, Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) finds someone in Demerzel’s (Laura Birn) quarters who should not be there. Rue Corintha (Sandra Yi Sencindiver), enjoiner to Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith), is rummaging through all of the android’s personal effects, but is she just an opportunist, or is she a threat? Meanwhile, on Ignis, Gaal (Lou Llobell) is desperate to find out what happened to Salvor (Leah Harvey) and confronts Tellem Bond (Rachel House), only to discover just how powerful Tellem is. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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