Category Archives: TV Reviews

The Expanse: Mother – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode where we delve into Amos’ past, and my heart breaks a little

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Expanse: Season 5. image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Mother Review –

This season the show has done something a little different compared to the last season. Instead of dropping all the episodes at once, the show is giving us the first three episodes and then doing a weekly release after that, much like the last season of The Boys. Which means this is the last of the three opening episodes that we will look at today.

So to set the scene, everything is coming to ahead as forces move throughout the Solar System with carnage on their minds. Here there becomes a race to find out the information in time and get it to the right people. But none of that matters to one person because Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper) just wants to save one person, her son Filip (Jasai Chase Owens). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Mandalorian: Chapter 16 (The Rescue) and Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – It does what a season finale has to do, and broke my heart a little along the way

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The Mandalorian: Chapter 16 (The Rescue). Image Credit: Disney+.

The Mandalorian: The Rescue Review –

In today’s episode, Season Two draws to a close as we find ourselves on the cusp of a great battle. This has been an exciting season with highs and lows as we have deepened both the story and the mythos of the universe of this time. In this review, we will first cover the final episode and then take some time to explore the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, ever since The Tragedy, Mando (Pedro Pascal) has had one thing on his mind, to get Grogu back. To do this, he had to raise allies, get information about locations, and basically prepare to go to war with the Imperial Remnant. Well, he has done all that and now it is time to bring a world of hate to those who would take Grogu away from him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole as well as the season, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 2

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TL;DR – A beginning and an end all wound up into one

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 2. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Terra Firma Part 1 Review –

Today we continue our walk through the looking glass as we make our mark on the Mirror Universe. But it is also an exciting episode with regards to relationships and even the past as it comes full force into the future.

So to set the scene, we are still on the ISS Discovery as Emperor Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) has decided not to kill her daughter Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) but instead reach out to her in the only language she understands … pain. But the question is – is that enough? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Expanse: Churn – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode where we delve into Amos’ past, and my heart breaks a little

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Expanse: Churn. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Churn Review –

We dive straight back into the second episode of the season which continues to build the tension for the potential coming disaster. However, this episode is more of a character piece as we get to see what motivates many of our cast of characters.

So to set the scene, in the first episode Exodus we focused on all the crew going their separate ways as they flew to different parts of the Solar System. Amos (Wes Chatham) landed on Luna and after chitchat with Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) made the trip back to his home on Baltimore. Alex (Cas Anvar) arrived on Mars and faced a frosty reception from everyone including Bobbie (Frankie Adams), and Naomi (Dominique Tipper) made her way to Pallas Station. This departure left James (Steven Strait) all alone on Tyco Station, which was the perfect time for Monica Stuart (Anna Hopkins) to arrive with tales of intrigue. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Expanse: Exodus – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that moves everybody and more importantly everything into place

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Expanse: Exodus. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Exodus Review –

To be honest, 2020 has not been the best of years, and that might be an understatement. However, there was one ray of light on the horizon for me, and that was a new season of The Expanse, and well now it is here, it has so far not disappointed.

So to set the scene, it has been about 100+ days since the end of Season 4 and all the drama that happened on Ilus. In that time the crew of the Rocinante, James Holden (Steven Strait), Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), Amos Burton (Wes Chatham), and Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) have made their way to Tyco Station for refit and repair. Only it is time for reflection, and for many, it is time to close some personal demons. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Expanse: Season 5 Primer

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TL;DR – With the new season of The Expanse coming out in less than a week, we will catch you up on where all the characters are before the show explodes back onto our screens.  

The Expanse: Season 5. image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Expanse: Season 5 Primer –

With the next season of The Expanse coming out in under a week, I thought I would stop fretting and counting down the time until release and put that energy into something productive. With that in mind, below you will find a primer for the new season to catch you up on everything you need to know before Friday. For the sake of spoilers, we will be covering everything that has been released in the show so far, and the couple of early clips that have been released from the season but no more. To make this easy, we’ll first give a general overview before explore where each of the main characters are at the start of the season.

Overview:

The general overview is that the new season of The Expanse will drop on Amazon Prime this Friday/Saturday depending on your particular timezone. However, this season, not all the episodes will go live at the same time. The Expanse will be following the lead of The Boys earlier this year that released the first three episodes at once and then weekly from thereon. Personally, I found this to combine the best features of both binging and weekly release, and it worked great with The Boys, so I am looking forward to it here.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 1

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TL;DR – Time to dive back through the looking glass … sort of

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 1. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

There has been one character this season that has just been there, doing things, usually comments that cut to someone’s core. However, it felt like we were waiting for the penny to drop Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) … well this is the week for that.

So to set the scene, in last week’s The Sanctuary, we discovered that Georgiou’s condition is going from bad to worse, and there is not a whole lot that Dr Culber (Wilson Cruz) can do about it. While this is going on, Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Adira (Blu del Barrio) found a distress call at the centre of where they think The Burn started. This week, with things going from worse to deadly Culber talks to resident spook Kovich (David Cronenberg) who lets him know that they have seen this before and there is no cure. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Mandalorian: Chapter 14 (The Tragedy) – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that is mostly one long action scene, and it just works

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 14 (The Tragedy). Image Credit: Disney+.

The Mandalorian: The Tragedy Review –

As we have seen in shows recently, it isn’t easy to have long action scenes and pull them off. There is so much that goes into a critical action scene, and it is hard to do that successfully at a film level, let alone with the limited time you get to shoot with TV. Well, today’s episode showed that you could pull it off, with some creativity.

So to set the scene, in last week’s Chapter 13 we learned that The Child or Baby Yoda is called Grogu, but that to get him trained they need to go to the old Jedi Temple on Tython. Well, one hop, skip, and hyperspace jump later they arrive, however, it is soon apparent that they are not alone. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: The Sanctuary

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TL;DR – An episode that balances the personal with the large scale story and that was a delight to see.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: The Sanctuary. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

The Sanctuary Review –

We are starting to get to the pointy end of the season for Star Trek Discovery, and many of the story beats that have been thrown out there have begun to come home to roost. Today we get to see three stories based around different members of the crew as well as our first primary interaction with the series apparent big bad.  

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode, we got to see the fruits of Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy / Ethan Peck) labour with the Unification of the Romulan and Vulcan people. But more than that, it was a turning point for Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) in where she wanted to find her home. This week, things get turned on their head, when Book (David Ajala) receives a message from his home pulling the crew, Discovery, and The Federation into a direct confrontation with the Emerald Chain. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Mandalorian: Chapter 12 (The Siege) – TV Review

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TL;DR – We return to the familiar but also the safe

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 12 (The Siege). Image Credit: Disney+

The Mandalorian: The Siege Review –

One of the significant issues I had with the first season of The Mandalorian was several episodes just felt like filler and not good filler at that. I had a feeling that we would see this return in the second season, but so far that has not been the case. However, we have been edging closer and closer to this territory, and this week is no exception.

So to set the scene, in last week’s The Heiress, the Razor Crest had seen some better times, and that was after they had tried to repair it. There is no way that Mando (Pedro Pascal) and The Child could make it to Corvus in one piece, so they decide to visit some old friends. Landing in Nevarro, they have greeted Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), who are there to help, but also could use some help in return. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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