TV Review – Rick and Morty: Promortyus

TL;DR – This is one of those episodes that is there to remind you that Rick and Morty or not good people at all

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Rick and Morty: Promortyus. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review

If there has been one area of incongruity in within the greater Rick and Morty zeitgeist is has been how a lot of people idolise Rick (Justin Roiland) specifically when the show goes out of its way to show that he is not a good person and should not be idolized. Well, today we get another episode that reinforces this message.  

So to set the scene, we open with Rick and Morty (Justin Roiland) walking around a cave, but with weird face-hugging aliens … well over their faces as the name implies. There are walking with some damp slimy eggs when one of the tentacles of Morty’s alien catches on a stalagmite disgorging it and we discover that this is not a disguise they were being taken over. Two dead aliens, later they now need to escape, they just need to get through an entire civilization to do that. 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 – Rick and Morty: Never Ricking Morty

TL;DR – One of the most Meta episodes of the show I have ever seen, and given that this is Rick and Morty that is saying something

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Rick and Morty: Never Ricking Morty. Image Credit: Netflix.

 Well, today we dive back into the world of Rick and Morty, a show that I have loved (see my review for Season Three) but it is also a show that I have developed an odd relationship with. This is because (and I am sorry but I am about to drop the D-word) a lot of the discourse around the show and a certain vocal minority of fans have created an unpleasant environment at times. The first part of Season Four kind of came and went for me, but now we are getting the second half of the season weekly, I thought it would be a good time to give it another go.

So to set the scene, we open in as a weary traveller hops on a train and gets his tickets stamped. He pulls up to the bar to get a drink, but all he gets is a story about how someone wants to kill Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland). Suffering from one vignette to the next he escapes only to run into another traveller with the same problem and that is when things get weird (which for this show is saying something). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Movie Review – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend

TL;DR – A better use of the ‘choose your own adventure’ structure but it still shows the flaws with the design     

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene (bar playing the film again)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review

A while ago, Netflix dropped this weird little experiment onto its service, an episode of Black Mirror where you got to pick the direction of the story. Bandersnatch was an interesting experiment and a lot of people had fun with it but walked away from the experience feeling more than a little hollow. Well, Netflix has taken a second crack at the formula, this time with a show that could not be more different.

So to set the scene, Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) is getting married, since the end of the series, she has found love with the equally adorkable Prince Frederick (Daniel Radcliffe). Things are looking up and up for Kimmy, right until she discovers an old book in her backpack Lucy (Stephanie D’Abruzzo) of a chose your own adventure novel (foreshadowing). However, the book was loaned out from the library after she had been taken, so it could not be hers. Were there other kidnapped women out there? Well, there is only one person to ask … the Reverend (Jon Hamm) himself.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Lights Out and Season Seven

TL;DR – A fun episode from start to finish and a great way to finish the season

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Lights Out and Season Seven

It is the end of a season, but thankfully not the end of the series, so what does the show have in store for us. Well, a good season finally has to close a season, but also be a good episode in its own right, while also getting it ready to propel it into the future. Tonight we get an episode that I think does all of that and more.  

So to set the scene, it is the end of the day and the whole team is getting ready for a nice break, even longer for Santiago (Melissa Fumero) as this is the last day before she goes to on maternity leave. Everything is great right up until the moment the power goes out, not just in the precinct but in all of Brooklyn. There is a moment of quiet and then the whole city explodes in chaos and Holt (Andre Braugher) and Terry (Terry Crews) just so happened to be in an elevator, so Amy is in charge, but why does she need sweat pants? Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.         

 

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Ransom

TL;DR – A fun family story but they may have picked the wrong story to focus on

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Ransom. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

This season in Brooklyn Nine-Nine we have enjoyed episodes focused on several common themes that happen inside police shows and films. We have of course the traditional heist episode with Valloweaster, the deducing who-done-it with Dillman, even a shooter on the run with Manhunter. This week we get another addition to that list because we got ourselves a kidnapping.

So to set the scene, when Jake (Andy Samberg) arrives at the 99, he is rushed into Holt’s (Andre Braugher) office to find the one Kevin Cozner (Marc Evan Jackson). This is not just a social call, because while Kevin was out walking Cheddar (Stewart) someone kidnapped the dog. Jake is a little sceptical that someone took the fluffy boy right up until the moment the kidnapper sends a ransom note. Meanwhile, Amy (Melissa Fumero) is on the hunt for a Snoog, the perfect pram for her coming bundle of joy, she just has to win the competition, what could go wrong? Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.      

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Valloweaster

TL;DR – A fun family story but they may have picked the wrong story to focus on

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Valloweaster. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

One of the things that can help cement a long-running TV show is those recurring themes and events that you can keep going back to, like How I Met Your Mother’s slap or Deep Space Nine’s O’Brien-must-suffer time. However, as times goes on it can be hard to balance the return of an episode with the necessary escalation you need to pull it off. Well, today we have a similar time because it is a holiday so let’s begin the heist.

So to set the scene, we open in as two patrol officers are coming up the elevator, with everything being fine bar when they open the doors and the room is full of fighting rabbits in impeccable suits and glasses. Before you go have time to wonder what is going on we hear “Is this still going on” and cut back 6 months to Halloween because it is heist time and this time to stop betrayals, everyone is getting cuffed to their partners. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Admiral Peralta

TL;DR – A fun family story but they may have picked the wrong story to focus on

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Admiral Peralta. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

When you have a long-running show, changing up the dynamic can keep it fresh or be its downfall. This usually takes the form of the key relationship in the show, but not only did Brooklyn Nine-Nine let Amy (Melissa Fumero) and Jake’s (Andy Samberg) relationship develop naturally they have let it go through all the phases of life.

So to set the scene, at the weekly briefing Amy and Jake have an important announcement to make, they’re having a baby, which everyone already knew about. But with the thoughts of the coming bundle of joy come to the foreground, Jake starts thinking of the past and what his father Rodger (Bradley Whitford) refers to as the ‘Peralta Curse’ that is the terrible relationships that fathers have with their sons. Well there is only one way to fix that and that is to reunite a father with his son and that goes about as well as you expect. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Dillman

TL;DR – A fun episode from start to finish that played off each of the cast’s strengths.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Dillman. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

As the seventh season from Brooklyn Nine-Nine draws to a close in a couple of episodes, it has been really good to see them swing for the fences each episode. This week we get an episode that is quite small in scope but it pays off years of character developments.

So to set the scene, Jake (Andy Samberg) is in Holt’s (Andre Braugher) office because now he is captain again he is on a selection committee for a new city-wide task force called STOASRCEIUEO, which no shocker, Holt helped name. Everything was going fine, okay, Jake did his application in the form of a rap, so everything was not going fine. But things got worse when the precinct exploded. It seems that someone tried to prank Jake with a glitter bomb and it backfired. But who in the precinct could have done it? Well, there is one detective that Holt trusts to solve the case, Dillman (J.K. Simmons). Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Jimmy Jab Games II

TL;DR – A return from the blast of the past shows how far the show has grown

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Jimmy Jab Games II. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

Way back in at the start of the show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was still finding its feet. It was an experimental time, with this show exploring several different plot threads to see if they worked. Some of them worked like, Halloween, some of them did not, like Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) trying to date Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz), and some still were just lost to time. However, every now and again, one of those threads from the past gets born again, and this is just one such episode.

So to set the scene, Terry (Terry Crews) and Santiago (Melissa Fumero) have to leave the 99 for the day to do some departmental training. Thus they leave Peralta (Andy Samberg) in charge … but with no speech about being responsible because time has changed him. Now he is the guy that will buy the safe car and is trying to start a family. Well, no one gets to tell Jake he can’t be reckless, so it is now time for him to resurrect an even from the deep past the Jimmy Jab Games. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – The Good Place: Chillaxing

TL;DR – It is the moment when the loss and pain catch up with everyone.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Good Place: Chillaxing. Image Credit: NBC Studios.

Review

We continue our march to the final ever episode of The Good Place with a real threat looming over us. No one is improving and time is not infinite. It is in these moments of pressure in the past where the series has really excelled but will it work this time around.

So to set the scene, after our two-part season opener A Girl from Arizona, things had started to move into place. But every step forward was also a step back. They got rid of the demon in disguise, but then Chidi (William Jackson Harper) got brought more into the fold at the further expense of Eleanor’s (Kristen Bell) happiness. As well as this, after some struggles Janet (D’Arcy Carden) decided to break up with Jason (Manny Jacinto), leaving more of the group fractured. Just a reminder that we will be looking at the episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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