Category Archives: TV Reviews

The Residence: Season 1 – TV Review

Posted on by
6

TL;DR – This was a delightful time as we pulled apart the motives of all the many people in the White House who possibly wanted a man to die.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The White House.

The Residence Review –

Many genres rise and fall as time goes on, and unless you live in the British countryside, one example of that is the humble Murder Mystery. There are times when we can’t get enough of them, and then there can be a desert with none in sight. They are also one of the oldest genres in the industry, and you have to wonder if there is space for anything new? Well, today, we get a delightful new entry that shows it can.  

So, to set the scene, it is just a typical day at The White House as everyone prepares for a state dinner with Australia who the Americans are currently on poor terms with. There is chaos in the kitchens, disasters in the seating plans, and some unfortunate kangaroo placements. However, all of that changes when a piercing screen from Nan Cox (Jane Curtin) echoes through the halls of power. For the chief usher, A.B. Winter (Giancarlo Esposito), is dead under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Anyone dying in the White House would be a calamitous event, but murder? That is unheard of. And while everyone fights to find out who actually has jurisdiction in this case, Larry Dokes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), the Chief of Police at the MPD, calls upon the one person that he knows can take on such a challenge, Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), a consulting detective. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

The Last of Us: Through the Valley [S2E2] – TV Review

Posted on by
5

TL;DR – It shows the strength of the production team that even when you know how the narrative will go, yet you are still sitting on the edge of your chair.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Max service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

Abby looks out over the town of Jackson.

The Last of Us Review –

Look, I have to speak very vaguely here because we are on the wrong side of the spoiler zone, but when I said during our review of Future Days that I came into this season with a bit of apprehension, today’s episode was at the forefront of my mind. Could this adaptation pull off multiple story points that will echo not just throughout the show but out into general pop culture? Well, let’s have a look.  

So, to set the scene, while the New Year Party was meant to be a fount of joy for the community of Jackson, Wyoming, it ended in a confrontation that confirmed the fault lines that have grown between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the five years since Season One. Ellie might not know what Joel lied about, but that lie has slowly soured their relationship. But things are difficult for Jackson at the moment. It is the deep of winter, but the Infected have also been acting in different ways, and now you don’t know if you should be more concerned with things walking above or crawling below the snowline. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution [S2E1] – TV Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – An odd opening episode that is equally interesting, odd, and also a bit frustrating.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Belinda arrives at Miss Belinda Chandra I.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, we’re back, and the series that keeps on truckin’ is back with the second season of its third era. Doctor Who has always been a bit of an odd duck because there are times when it soars in the sky and other times when it flounders around with its but hanging in the air. Last season was a bit of both, where interesting characters and scenarios got lost at times due to a lack of focus. Will this second season work on some of those issues? Well, since it was filmed before the first episodes came out, I am not holding my breath, but I am always happy to be proven wrong.   

So, to set the scene, Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) is a nurse working in a local hospital and lives a generally unremarkable life bar the time one day that an old flame bought one of those silly ‘name a star’ certificates. But the one people who did not think the certificate was ridiculous was the new robot overlords of Miss Belinda Chandra I. Who capture her and take her back to the planet, now named after her, to marry their AI overlord, who is the new royal queen of the planet. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) is there to help, but it looks like time is in flux. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

Creature Commandos: Season 1 – TV Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – It was always going to be difficult being the vanguard of this new era, but for all its strengths, I am not sure this was the foundation that they needed.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Rick Flag, The Bride and Nina.

Creature Commandos Review –

Well, I don’t think you need to look hard to see the issues that the current DC slate of products has had in recent years. The DCEU never quite got on its feet and then floundered when choice after choice held back even well-performing films. Even their Elseworlds experiment has had issues with Joker: Folie à Deux floundering while The Penguin thrived. However, we are at an official turning point in the comic world. But can this new era thrive? And is this the best first start they can bring to the table?

So, to set the scene, the Belle Reve Correction Center is many things, including the Non-Human Internment Division. It is here where Waller (Viola Davis) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) watch as the Sons of Themyscira, led by Circe (Anya Chalotra), cross into the country of Pokolistan and start causing trouble. Waller cannot let that happen because America needs their oil, so it is time to activate the Creature Commandos, including The Bride (Indira Varma), GI Robot (Sean Gunn), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), to lend Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) a hand. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – A fun pomp back to that past nostalgia, which, while not quite having the strength to get all the way to the end, was still a blast when it leaned into the looney side of the toons.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Review –

Unfortunately, if there has been an entity that has been the most affected by this current blight of shelving products for tax purposes, it has been the Looney Tunes. So, to see one of those fallen products escape containment and get a release was reason enough to make it down to the cinemas. My big question was: could it connect with a new audience? And I was fascinated to see the outcome.  

So, to set the scene, Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) and Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) have grown up together under the guidance of Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). But with him gone and suburbia encroaching on their former farm, they are stuck with a profound predicament: find $10,000 to fix a hole in their roof, or their house will be condemned. But what caused the hole? Why is that scientist (Fred Tatasciore) covered in goo? And does it have something to do with Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), who just walked into the coffee shop?

Continue reading →

NCIS: Sydney – Fire in the Hole [S2E2] – TV Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – Conceptionally, it was one of their stronger episodes, even if it was a bit silly.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

A Tall Ahip on Sydney Harbour with the Bridge in the background.

Historically, this series does its best when it makes the most of its dual nature of being designed for both Australian and American audiences. It creates friction and conflict where good stories lie. Today’s episode might be one of the better examples of this.  

So, to set the scene, two significant moments are happening for the crew of NCIS: Sydney. On the harbour, Jackson (Sean Sagar), Doc (William McInnes), and Evie (Tuuli Narkle) are exploring why a former navy officer has washed up on the shoreline in old-timey naval garb. Meanwhile, JD (Todd Lasance) and Mack (Olivia Swann) are organising the Force Protection Detail for the USS Perez. It should be a typical day, bar from the fact that the dead navy officer just showed up for work. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

The Recruit: Season 2 – TV Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – A fascinating fun romp through a situation that was always a hair’s breadth away from complete implosion.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Owen says hello by opening up his arms.

The Recruit Review –

I didn’t know what to make when I sat down to watch that first season back in 2022, but I was honestly surprised by how well it walked the line between comedy and farce. Noah Centineo takes a big swing away from the romantic comedies he was known for and nails them. Given how fun the first season was, well, when I heard there was a Season Two out, I had to give it a watch.

So, to set the scene, after getting kidnapped in Ostrava, Czech Republic, at the end of Season One. Owen (Noah Centineo) finds himself face-to-face with a murderer with a gun against his head and someone he didn’t know was alive. While he managed to get out of that situation with some of his blood still in his body, just, he was benched when he got back to the CIA. Even though several people still want him dead or want to drop the failure of the first operation squarely on his lap. Stuck in limbo until the guillotine falls. That is, until a letter lands on his desk with a hope of redemption in the air. All he has to do is go back to Seoul, where he grew up, and not be radioactive to everyone he comes in contact with. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

Continue reading →

NCIS: Sydney – Heart Starter [S2E1] – TV Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – I think this first episode did everything that it needed to do. It tied up the cliffhanger from last season and gave it the motivation to move forward, even if there were a couple of missteps.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Back in 2023, there was this odd experiment that played out across the streaming space: what would happen when you smashed an American and Australian Police Procedural together and then put it into the weirdly optimistic world of the NCIS franchise? Well, there were some missed opportunities, but overall, by the end of the season, it had found its feet. The question then becomes, can they continue that good work into their new season?

So, to set the scene, while we may start with a funeral possession, the episode actually begins in the moments after the season finale, Blonde Ambition, with Mackey (Olivia Swann) drawing her gun on the now fundamental suspicious Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who JD (Todd Lasance) just phoned on an assassin’s phone, which would be more of an issue if he didn’t just have a heart attack. An international assassin was killed, and a child returned to their father. But a tier one villain is out of custody and on the run, and the powers at Be are looking for a scapegoat, and they are coming for everyone. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

Companion – Movie Review

Posted on by
8

TL;DR – Companion is a film full of juxtapositions, hilarious and incredibly violent, fascinating yet also profoundly exploitative, and a fascinating romp even when it is trying to plum the depths of human depravity.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

Iris shopping.

Companion Review –

Today, we look at a film that is fundamentally ambitious with the themes and tone that it wants to set. A Dark Comedy that is also exploring the world of manipulation, power, control, and personhood. All significant themes in their own right, and the question then becomes: can you do them all justice in 90-minute runtime and a shoestring budget?  

So, to set the scene, Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) have the perfect meet/cute story: they randomly bumped into each other in a grocery store, and Josh was so awkward that he accidentally knocked over a whole table full of oranges. It could have been a moment of disaster, but they found love in that odd place. It was such a decisive moment that Iris listed it as the only time that she moved out of her benign world and into something more profound. Oh, well and that one other time, the day she killed Josh.  

Continue reading →

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: The Real Good Guys [S1E7] and Full Season Review

Posted on by
6

TL;DR – A riot of fun from start to finish.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Jod performs for the droids with a lightsabre menacing those who know.

Skeleton Crew Review –

Well, it is season finale time for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and I am kind of not ready for it. This has been such a blast of a season that I wish we had gotten more of it. But all good things must come to an end, so today, we will first look to see if they stuck the landing before exploring the season as a whole.  

So, to set the scene, well, the kids Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith/ Kacie Borrowman) are in trouble. They have made it home to At Attin but in the hands of Pirate Captain Jod (Jude Law), who now knows where the greatest treasure in the history of the Star Wars galaxy is hidden. He also knows who every single parent of the kids is and has made some explicit threats to their safety. The only question is: can the kids get the alarm out before the raiders take the planet? Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →