Category Archives: TV Reviews

Star Trek: Prodigy – Dreamcatcher – TV Review

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TL;DR – The first episode to really test everyone as a crew.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Prodigy - Dreamcatcher. Image Credit: Paramount+

Star Trek: Prodigy Review –

So far this season, we have had a couple of episodes to get to know the crew and set up the scenario. But the question is, what kind of show will Star Trek: Prodigy be? Well, today, I think we got some of the answers towards that.

So to set the scene, at the end of Starstruck, the crew of the USS Protostar discovered that it was best not to just go with it when piloting a spacecraft through danger after danger. After a lot of training from Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), a habitable M-Class planet was discovered in the Hirogen System. Dal (Brett Gray) doesn’t want to explore, but Janeway forces his hand, and they make their descent into the atmosphere. 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: Prodigy – Starstruck – TV Review

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TL;DR – Delightful and a visual spectacle.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Prodigy - Starstruck. Image Credit: Paramount+

Star Trek: Prodigy Review –

It would be best if you asked many questions once you have stolen a spaceship from your tyrannical dictator. The foremost question is, “How do we run the ship?” This week we jump into that very question, as stealing the ship and running it are two very different propositions.

So to set the scene, at the end of Lost & Found, our ‘drew’ managed to get the USS Protostar up and running and escaped the clutches of the Diviner (John Noble) and his henchman Drednok (Jimmi Simpson). However, as they fled, a familiar voice appeared as a holographic depiction of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) materialised on the bridge. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Foundation: Mysteries and Martyrs – TV Review

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TL;DR – All the pieces move into place, and we see where the imminent peril is arriving from.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Foundation: Mysteries and Martyrs. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Foundation Review –

In the early part of the season, Foundation very much held its cards close to its chest. Its use of multiple timelines and jumping characters was used to obscure the narrative, to mixed results. Well, this week, we get the opposite because as like opening the curtains on the house, we now see all.

So to set the scene, three coming disasters loom large. In space, the hijacked crew of the Beggar see the prize that Phara Keaen (Kubbra Sait) has sort. The fabled Invictus, who is not just a jump ship, but a world killer. On Maiden, Brother Day (Lee Pace) discovers that he might not be ready to play the game of politics with Zephyr Halima (T’nia Miller). Finally, On Trantor, the love between Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton) and Azura (Amy Tyger) but it is a dangerous game. 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: Prodigy – Lost & Found – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was an episode full of charm that sucked me right into this world and story.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Prodigy - Lost & Found. Image Credit: Paramount+

Star Trek: Prodigy Review –

We might be living through a new Golden Age in Science Fiction, but one thing is sure, we are living through a new era of Star Trek with five series currently in production and more on the way. Today we get to look at the latest new series on the horizon that blasted onto the screen full of charm and style.

So to set the scene, off in the Delta Quadrant, there is a prison colony called Tars Lamora. Here the prisoners mine the planetoid for Chimerium, a valuable crystal. One of those prisoners is Dal R’El (Brett Gray), who has dreamed of escaping his confinement and gets close a few times. But his attempts put him on the radar of the ruler of the prison Solum/The Diviner (John Noble), who fears he is working with Fugitive Zero (Angus Imrie). Dal has two options, the nice route with Solum’s daughter Gwyn (Ella Purnell), where he helps her find Fugitive Zero or the bad route with Drednok (Jimmi Simpson). But as he is looking for Zero in the deep core with Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), they discover something much more valuable hiding in the depths. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Foundation: Death and the Maiden – TV Review

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TL;DR – The show is starting to find its place.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Foundation: Death and the Maiden. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Foundation Review –

After Foundation’s bombastic explosion onto the scene in its first episode, The Emperor’s Peace, I had become concerned with where the show was heading. It felt like it was grasping around in the dark, possibly crushed under the weight of adapting the source material with all its quirks, while trying to bring it into the 21st century. While it still feels like it is struggling to find its place, we have now seen the bedrock it is building upon, and I am intrigued.

So to set the scene, the Anacreon’s attack on Terminus has caught everyone, including the Empire, with their pants down. Well, everyone but Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) who spotted Phara’s (Kubbra Sait) play but not before she could enact it. Meanwhile, back on Trantor, Brother Day’s (Lee Pace) frustration with the state of things boiled over, and he breaks with thousands of years of tradition and boots Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) off a trip to the centre of the Luminism religion in the Moon Maiden in the Surah System. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Ted Lasso: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Builds upon everything that made the first season great by focussing on the character development of every kind  

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Ted Lasso: Season 2. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Ted Lasso Review –

When I came into the first season of Ted Lasso, there was so much praise and hype around the show that there was no way it could ever live up to those expectations. But not only did the show live up to them, but it also exceeded them. However, surely now with its sophomore season, it can’t strike lightning twice? Well, can I just say, in the echoes of T2: Judgement Day or Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the second helping is even better than the first.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, things were not looking great for the English Premier League team, AFC Richmond. After a gruelling season under new coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), the team was moments away from saving themselves from relegation when a play from ex-teammate Jamie Tartt (Jeremy Swift) sealed their fate. Relegated, the team tries to fight back to the Premier League only to start their season with seven tied matches. But just when it looks like they will turn a corner, the win is stolen from them when the penalty Dani (Cristo Fernández) kicked accidentally kills the team mascot. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Foundation: The Mathematician’s Ghost – TV Review

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TL;DR – We start to see the main story unfurl, but some of the more frustrating elements are still there.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Foundation: The Mathematician’s Ghost. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Foundation Review –

‘Non-linear storytelling’ is a method of creating a narrative that does not follow the usual A->B->C->D pattern but can jump all over the place C->D->B->A. Sometimes this comes in the form of a narrative hook where they show something shocking and jump back in a week to show how they got there. Sometimes it can be used to keep an audience off-balance. Sometimes it can be a complete surprise, like in Westworld. But if you are going to employ a non-linear story, you need to make sure it improves your narrative and that you are not losing your audience in the process.

So to set the scene, at the end of Preparing to Live, we had a moment of horror as Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) is apparently murdered at the hands of his own son Raych (Alfred Enoch) while Gaal (Lou Llobell) was jettisoned out of an escape pod. This episode we open 400-years earlier when Cleon the First (Terrence Mann) is looking over the construction of the Starbridge and preparing to create the legacy of his clones. We then jump 19 years after the bombing in The Emperor’s Peace, as Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) has started his final day before becoming Brother Darkness. While 36 years after the bombing, the colonists have landed on Terminus and have been spending their time founding a colony and starting the task of softening the fall of the galactic empire.   

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Foundation: Preparing to Live – TV Review

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TL;DR – While still showing promise, the follow-up does not hit as hard as the first.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Foundation: Preparing to Live. Image Credit Apple TV+.

Foundation Review –

Adapting a work from one medium to another is a complex process. Indeed, the media landscape is lifted with the failed attempts and aborted projects. This danger is amplified further when you adapt a work that is older and does not play within modern narrative frameworks. Today we continue to explore a show that is charging through this dangerous terrain by adapting a pillar of Science Fiction’s canon.

So to set the scene, Trantor is a planet still reeling from the terrorist attack in The Emperor’s Peace that destroyed the Starbridge sending the space elevator plummeting towards the planet, killing hundreds of millions on the ground. In the opening, Eto Demerzel (Laura Birn) leads a task force to Dwarf Planet Aethra to hunt down whoever financed the attack, but no clues could be found. But while the Empire reals, the Foundation is making the slow 5-year journey to the outer rim, but for all their training, projections still show that 30% of the colonists will still die in the first year. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Ted Lasso: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Heart-warming and sincere without ever being saccharine.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

The Media Conference in Ted Lasso. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Ted Lasso Review –

When I first got Apple TV+ for Foundation, I knew that I would probably take the chance to check out what else was there because nothing had called me before. Well, if I was going to start somewhere, I thought I might as well go with the series that just obliterated the Emmys. However, I went in with a thought that it could never live up to all the hype … I was wrong, it could, and it did.

So to set the scene, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is working as an NFL coach in America. He led the Wichita State Shockers to a Division II NCAA championship, an impressive feat. While that win put him on the radar of several NFL clubs in America, an offer right out of left field caught his attention. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) was the new owner of AFC Richmond, an English Premier League Football club, and she offered him the job of team manager. Ted jumps at the chance and brings along his coaching partner, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), all the way over to London only to get thrown in the deep end and demolished by the press like Trent Crimm for The Independent (James Lance). However, he soon finds his feet. Unfortunately for Ted, Rebecca got the team from her ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head) in the divorce, but she has no intention of letting it thrive. She wanted the one thing her husband truly cared about to go down in flames. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Sex Education: Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This show keeps going from strength to strength with more in-depth storytelling.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this show

Sex Education. Image Credit: Netflix.

Sex Education Review –

If there is one show that constantly surprises me at how honest and explorative they will be, it would be Sex Education. Every episode is designed to both shock the viewer but then also be filled with deeply heartfelt stories. The combination creates a show that should be jarring, but rather than that, it just works. As we dive into the third season, there was always a chance that the steam would run out, that the juxtaposition would falter. While it might do that one day, this season still holds the line.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season Two, there was a lot of drama that befell the small town of Moredale. Otis (Asa Butterfield) finally expressed his love for Maeve (Emma Mackey) through a voicemail message, which would have been amazing if Isaac (George Robinson) had not deleted it. Jean (Gillian Anderson) discovered that she is pregnant with her ex-partner Jakob’s (Mikael Persbrandt) baby, and the hierarchy of Moredale Secondary School came crashing down when Michael’s (Alistair Petrie) plan to discredit Jean blew up in his face. Well, over summer, everything shifted, with Otis dating Ruby (Mimi Keene) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) is starting a new relationship with Adam (Connor Swindells), But none of them are ready for the new headmistress Hope (Jemima Kirke), that is about to change all of their worlds. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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