Category Archives: TV Reviews

TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: People of Earth

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TL;DR – This week is the surest sign so far that things are not what the once were when the crew return home to Earth.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: People of Earth. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

People of Earth Review –

So far this season, everything about been about coming together and finding their place. In the first episode this season That Hope Is You, it was all about Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) finding her place in the future. In episode two Far From Home, it was the USS Discovery’s turn. But now they have both found themselves in the future; it is time to go back to where it all started.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s episode, we discovered that it was Michael that was digging the USS Discovery out of the parasitic ice that was threatening to crush them all. This week we get to see the immediate aftermath as Michael is reunited with the crew. It is all joy and hugs … hugs remember how good hugs were … oh and a sly supportive nod from Philippa (Michelle Yeoh). She lets them know about her year alone, and what has happened to the Federation. However, now that the Discovery is there they can go somewhere that had been out of Michael’s reach until now … Earth, we just need to know who the captain is first. 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 9 (The Marshal) – TV Review

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TL;DR – A fantastic opening episode that brings us back to the world of Mando, but also the world of Star Wars.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 9 (The Marshal). Image Credit: Disney+

The Mandalorian: The Marshal Review –

One of the joys of last year was when The Mandalorian came out, and we got week after week space opera goodness. Sure not every episode landed, sure there was some filler, but when it was grand, boy was it grand. Well, 2020 has sort hit us for a curveball, and I was hoping there might be a little good in it and Season Two might be that.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, Mando (Pedro Pascal) was given his great commission. He had to return The Baby to its own kind, the Jedi. The only problem is the Empire wiped out most of the Jedi, and the Mandalorians and Jedi are ancient enemies. To find out where to take The Baby, he needs the help of other Mandalorians who just so happen to very good at hiding. But Mando received some intelligence as to where one is hiding and has to take a trip to Tatooine. 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: Far From Home (That Hope is You, Part 2)

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TL;DR – The Discovery is back and has to decide if going in guns blazing or diplomatic is the way forward

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Far From Home (That Hope is You, Part 2). Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Far From Home Review –

We continue powering forward in this soft-reboot of Star Trek Discovery as characters continue to crash land into the 3100s. As we go about this week’s episode, we start to see the way this new world works and how it can be used for exploitation. Which means it is a perfect time for some hope.

So to set the scene, in That Hope Is You, Part 1 we get the story of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) crashing into a planet and trying to re-orientate herself in this new place and time. There was however one big thing missing in the first episode, and that was the USS Discovery itself and all those on-board it. Well, today’s episode wastes no time in revealing what happened to them as they get thrust out on the galaxy onto of a world that was partially blasted. None of the ship’s systems are working, but under the command of Saru (Doug Jones), Lt. Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts) was able to invert the ship and crash land it on an icy glacier. 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: That Hope is You, Part 1

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TL;DR – A fantastic start to the season full of promise and potential.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: That Hope is You, Part 1. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

That Hope is You, Part 1 Review –

How things have changed, so much has happened since we last checked in with Star Trek Discovery. Since the end of Season Two, we have gotten the fascinating first season of Star Trek Picard, followed by the delightful Star Trek Lower Decks. It has been such a long time since I have been able to talk about this much Star Trek all at once, so you can imagine that it makes me almost giddy with excitement. Today we are going to dive back in with the first episode of Discovery’s third season, the season where everything changes.                   

So to set the scene, at the end of Such Sweet Sorrow the USS Discovery and its crew had to make a tough choice … do they stay or do they go? The ship had to leave on a one way trip to the future (for the why you can read our primer), and everyone in the crew had to decide do they stay with what they know or take a trip into the unknown. Flash forward in a moment, and Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is crashing out of the wormhole, smashing into Book’s (David Ajala) ship the Nautilus much to the consternation of Grudge (Leeu) and plummeting down to the planet below. After barely dodging significant wreckage in orbit, Burnham is able to take control just before she landed. Her first question: Is there life? ‘Yes’. Where Is the Discovery? … well that one is a bit harder to answer. 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 Boys: What I Know & Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Just when I thought I had worked everything out, The Boys was like, you know nothing while pulling the rug out from under my feet and maintaining eye contact as I fell to the floor.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The Boys: What I Know. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

What I Know Review –

After an exciting and long season, we have drawn to the final episode for their sophomore season. This is a season where back in episode three, we exploded through the guts of a whale in its entire gory spectacle, and even that was not the most bonkers moment. With that in mind, in today’s review, we are going to look first at how the final episode came together. Then we will explore an overview of the season as a whole.  

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker, we thought everything was coming to ahead … until the head’s started popping. Throughout this episode, there were several essential plotlines. The first was getting a good look at Butcher’s (Karl Urban) life and the world that formed him as to who he is today. Homelander (Antony Starr) and Stormfront (Aya Cash) manipulated Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) and turned him against his mother Becca (Shantel VanSanten). Meanwhile, after Vought captures starlight (Erin Moriarty), Hughie (Jack Quaid) goes on a rescue mission with Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) to save her, and it goes … mostly okay. Finally, after everything they have done up until this point, there is a congressional inquiry led by Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) into Vought and what they did. Finally some progress, or not, as heads start exploding on live TV. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.          

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The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the episode that any semblance of subtly gets thrown out the door.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker. Image Credit: Prime Video.

The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker Review –

The Boys is a show that has never shied away from the gore, sex, violence, subtle this is not. However, when it comes to the story, it was always framed around a simple good v bad framework. Throughout this season we have seen that there is more to that narrative as we dive down the well that is Vought, and this week the story takes all of its gloves of to show you just what it wants to say.

 So to set the scene, in last week’s episode we got to see inside Vought International’s final plan. They aim to stabilize Compound V so that it can be given to an adult and cause an instant and safe transformation to being a Supe. But that is how it is not the why. The why is that Vought is not just Nazi adjacent, it is straight-up completely Nazi. Stormfront (Aya Cash) who is leading this campaign was born in Nazi Germany, and the aim is to given powers to select people to ‘take the country back’. This week with the turning of we start with the turning of Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) and the best possible chance to take Vought down … if everyone can make it to the hearings alive. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Love, Guns & Level Ups – YouTube Review

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TL;DR – A series that charts the course of a relationship from the online to the IRL  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Love, Guns & Level Ups. Image Credit: Fury Fingers.

Love, Guns & Level Ups Review –

We live in a big weird connected world. I have good friends that I have never met in the real or only one time. I also have nemeses that I have never met in the real … you know who you are. This oddity, thanks to the internet, is a concept that I have seen a couple of attempts to explore. Still, it is usually from people who don’t understand the medium of video games and the relationships that can form because of them. Today we get to look at a series that    

So to set the scene, we open in on a chat log as two friends hop online to play Go-Go Soldier, a popular Battle Royale game. Amongst all the carnage of power-ups, dance bonuses, and just general chaos, two players Elliot or Mad_Martigan (Eduard Geyl) and Bree or GG_Gun (Lisa Fanto) eye the same bonus, a bow with a dynamite arrow. They get beaten to the bow by another player, but through some quiet communication, they choose to help take down the goon before a falling stick of dynamite separates them. They are pulled apart, but there is an instant connection which leads to some clear gun flirting a little later. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a strong entry into the Jurassic franchise leaning both into joy and terror of dinosaurs  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Bumpy in Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous. Image Credit: Netflix.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Review –

It should go without saying, I love Dinosaurs. I have loved them since I was a kid, and I still love them today. So I take whatever chance to watch, which unfortunately is few and far between. Well, today is one of those few times when I get to sit back and enjoy the world where Brachiosaurus loom over treetops, and you need to be careful at what goes bump in the night. [Insert T-Rex Roar sound here]

So to set the scene, we open with two people running through the jungle trying to reach an extraction before Raptors take one of them out. The other person who we see their point of view tries to escape before being cornered by a T-Rex. That is the point where the VR goggles come of, and we are introduced to Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams). He is trying to beat this apparently unbeatable game to win a ticket to Jurassic World’s new Camp Cretaceous because it was always his and his late dad’s dream to go. Well while tossing and turning in bed, he is woken from a dream and finally it all clicks, and he becomes the first person in the world to beat the game. With this, he books his ticket to Camp Cretaceous where absolutely nothing will go wrong … right …?  

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The Boys: We Gotta Go Now – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an episode of getting all our ducks in a row, but a good version of that.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Boys: We Gotta Go Now. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Boys: We Gotta Go Now Review –

In a world where superheroes have the power to do anything they want … what is to stop them from just doing it? This is the question that The Boys has been asking for a while, and this week we get to see that the answer to that is not a whole lot.

So to set the scene, in last week’s Nothing Like it in the World everyone’s world got turned on their heads. A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) got kicked out of the Seven, Homelander (Antony Starr) is continuing to lose his position on top, and Butcher (Karl Urban) lost everything because of his blind hatred of Supes. With everyone spiralling out of control, it is the perfect time for people like Stormfront (Aya Cash) to spill in and upset everything, which is precisely what happens. 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 Boys: Nothing Like it in the World – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the episode where we get to see the direction of the season

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Boys: Nothing Like it in the World. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Boys: Nothing Like it in the World Review –

Well, The Boys came back with a whale splatted gore explosion, but unlike last season, we are getting weekly episodes to space out the carnage. Given the places this show goes, this is very much for the best to give us some moments to breathe given what we just watched. With that in mind, let’s dive into an episode that gets ew in 4 minutes.

So to set the scene, New York is still reeling from the supposed super-terrorist attack on an apartment building. However, we know it was not the terrorist but Stormfront (Aya Cash) the newest member of The Seven with clear Nazi undertones. With the way Vought is manipulating the media not even the revelation that supers are made not born has shaken them from the prime position they are in. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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