Tag Archives: Drama Television

The Diplomat: Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – While there is joy in watching this cast eat up the screen in every frame, this is a messier season as they try to transition to something different.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Military Helicopters flying over Big Ben.

The Diplomat Review –

My background is in International Relations, and it does not come up here as much as I would like, other than the occasional The Hitman’s Bodyguard jaunt. Well, today, given the situation of the world, I thought I would take a chance to have some wishful thinking in a world where the right things still matter, integrity still matters, to pretend for a couple of hours that everything hasn’t just gone to shit everywhere. But to understand why Season Three feels so volatile, we need to look at where Season Two left us.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Season Two, things went from bad to worse when the person, Grace Hagen Penn (Allison Janney), behind the scheme that blew up the British Ship in Season One has become the new President of the United States after the former suffered a heart attack during a conversation with Hal (Rufus Sewll). What was the conversation you ask? Well, it was informing him that his Vice-President may have committed a terrorist act on an ally, that very same Vice-President who is now the President of the United States. This is not a good day for Kate (Keri Russell) because the person she wanted removed just became the most powerful person in the world. Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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PLUR1BUS: We Is Us [S1E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A masterpiece in tension and build-up.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – This episode contains flashing lights.

439D 19H 56M 11S.

PLUR1BUS Review –

Today I begin my first dive into a work of Vince Gilligan. I know his work is quality, but unfortunately for me, by the time that Breaking Bad was accessible in Australia, it had already been mostly spoiled. It also meant I did not have the energy to explore Better Call Saul, even though I know it is excellent. But now it’s the time for fresh starts and as the show came highly recommended by my friends, and some dabbling into science fiction helps things along nicely. I found it the right time to press play.    

So, to set the scene, one evening, two SETI scientists find a repeating message coming from space. It is nothing bouncing off the Moon. It is a code repeated every 78 seconds and sent from 600 light-years away. As the scientists try to break the message, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is busy signing the latest addition of her romance fantasy book. But little does anyone know that one bite and a kiss later, the entire world changes. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Last of Us: Convergence & Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A slightly odd finale that has me ruminating about the strength of the season.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

End Credit Scene – There is a behind-the-scenes making-of.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Last of Us Review –

Well, we have come to the end of Season Two, and I was not ready, and I don’t mean that from a more existential way, though there is a bit of that in there. But more, the fact that this season only being seven episodes long caught me entirely off guard. Now, our final episode of the season has to do a lot of heavy lifting to stick the landing, and I am concerned going in, that this might be too much of a task to ask of it.  

So, to set the scene, at the end of Feel Her Love, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) becomes separated from Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino) in the park, which leads to her discovering that there are places where the cordyceps have built up enough that it can affect people with their spores, but also where she enacted the first part of her revenge. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: The Price – TV Review

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TL;DR – Uplifting with moments of joy, and profoundly sad with the realities of the world.

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-of.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A large scale diorama of the Solar System.

The Last of Us Review –

Goodness, this season has ripped through, because I didn’t know I was sitting down to watch the penultimate episode when I pressed play. Even more so because it looks like it is time for 2020’s favourite television interjection, the flashback episode. But given how well they have pulled these off in the past, I had some confidence that the filmmakers could do it again. Let’s see if I was right?

So, to set the scene, it has only been a handful of months since Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) made their way into Jackson. They are still the newbies on the scene, but Joel is trying to prove his place. He is also trying to raise a teenage daughter for the first time since the calamity, which can be touch and go at the best of times. But here, their relationship is built on one thing: the lie of what happened in Salt Lake City. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Andor (Star Wars: Andor): Jedha, Kyber, Erso – TV Review

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TL;DR – A bittersweet symphony of hope and coming sadness.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Two X-Wings flank Cassian on the way back in to Yarvin.

Andor Review –

Well, we are here, it is the end of it all, yet we find ourselves in an interesting place. Unlike most series finales, Andor doesn’t need to stick the landing because the third act of Rogue One has already done that for them. This puts it in an interesting space where you can ask: how do you definitely end something that already has another ending? Well, that is what we will look at today.   

So, to set the scene, much like last week, we start our episode moments after Who Else Knows? ends. Cassian (Diego Luna) and Melshi (Duncan Pow) have made it to where Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) is hiding out. Unfortunately for them, the Empire is also tracking them, and Supervisor Heert (Jacob James Beswick) is but one floor away and closing in fast. Comms are down, so K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) can’t send a warning of the coming doom, as Stormtroopers start making their way down the hallway to the room where they are hiding. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Andor (Star Wars: Andor): Who Else Knows?– TV Review

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TL;DR – Tension starts to ratchet up now that the Empire knows what sort of information might just have leaked

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

A dead Stormtrooper lies on the ground.

Andor Review –

So far, each of the mini-arcs has been almost a mini-season in its own right. This week is the first time this season that it felt like I was watching a Part 2 of 3, which leans terribly on that feeling of growing dread that you sense in the back of your mind. When you feel a large wave or a fully stocked Stormtrooper platoon coming,  

So, to set the scene, we start in the moments after Make It Stop, as the Empire tries to work out how one of their highest value prisoners was murdered out from underneath them. Recriminations are coming, and indeed, the people on the ground might be taking more time shielding themselves from that than actually finding out who did it. Knowing time is not on her side, Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) makes a desperate last stab at getting the information out there, because it is do or die, and few people know this more than Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Andor (Star Wars: Andor): Make It Stop – TV Review

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TL;DR – We see the beginning of the end through a beginning and an end.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.  

BBY 1.

Andor Review –

Well, after many years of production, through many highs and lows, today we start our final look at Andor. When I sat down to watch Kassa back in 2022, I didn’t think much of what felt like a useless prequel series for a prequel movie. Little did I know that I was sitting down to watch the start of some of, if not the best, work Star Wars had ever produced. Today, we begin our look through the final episodes of what has been a remarkable series up to this point.

So, to set the scene, it has been a year since The Empire eviscerated Ghorman, and things are still tense across the galaxy, especially on the capital planet Coruscant. They look for rebels near and far, but little do they know there might be some right under their noses. But when a beeping emergency transmission wakes up Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau), soon everything changes. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Paradise: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Cornerstoned by some fantastic performances, we explore a world where things might be perfect, as long as you don’t look any deeper.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Xavier walks up some stairs.

Paradise Review –

It might just be the current climate, or the fact that rewatching The West Wing makes me feel a growing sense of naivety. But I have been trying to find a new political or politically adjacent series to stick my teeth into. My first attempt was the delightful The Residence, which made its mark. But I wanted to find something with a bit more bite, and today I think I found it.

So, to set the scene, Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) was doing his usual daily rounds in the sleepy town of Paradise. The sort of town where you can jog to the President’s house as part of your morning commute. Xavier did the usual handoff to the agents on site, including Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) and Billy Pace (Jon Beavers). However, something was off that morning, POTUS, Cal Bradford (James Marsden) was still in bed, which was odd even for a man who spends most of his day in a bathrobe. But as he goes into the President’s room, he is accosted by the sight of blood and the body of the President. Xavier should call it in right away, but he locks the site down before word can escape, and before he loses control of the first murder scene in Paradise’s history. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Last of Us: Feel Her Love – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today, it feels like we have hit the point of no return, that moment when you can not undo what you have become.

Rating: 3.5 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-of.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Ellie playing a guitar on the theatre stage.

The Last of Us Review –

It has been said that “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”, a phrase often linked to the philosopher Confucius, but I think he never actually said it. But I digress. The phrase is as evocative as it is because you can understand how that drive for revenge can push out all reasonable thought and make you act in ways that actively hurt yourself. Literature is full of revenge narratives, from simple calling, like you hurt an old lady whom I liked, or you killed my dog. All the way to convoluted messes like we don’t like your politics of fear, so we are going to kill you. But no matter the narrative, there is always a tipping point, and I think we have hit one of them today.     

So, to set the scene, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) have firmly planted themselves in Seattle and are actively hunting down the ones who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). Thankfully for them, a war has broken out between the WLF and the Scars. It provides a lot of coverage and a lot of information. People can help but chat over the radio, and Dina hears everything on Day Two. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: The Path – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week is a step back from the relentless pace of the opening episodes to refocus us on the rest of the season.     

Rating: 4 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.

Joel's watch.

The Last of Us Review –

Last week’s Through the Valley was … well … look … even for those of us who knew what was coming, it hurt a lot, even more so with the way that they updated the framing for the television adaptation. But it is also one of the lynchpin moments in the series. From here, everything changes, and that can be very hard to handle at the best of times. But when you are shifting the narrative structure from the game, things can become precarious.  

So, to set the scene, the city of Jackson has probably gone through the most significant test that has been thrown at it in the post-apocalyptic world of the series. The Infected sent feelers down their old sewer pipes and forwarded a large hoard right to their doorsteps. Many lives were lost, and much that had been built was destroyed and needed to be rebuilt. For some, that pain was even more acute as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) had to watch Joel (Pedro Pascal) be brutally murdered in front of her without closure from their confrontation during Future Days. Three months later, the city finally started to heal, but some wounds were deep and couldn’t be fixed with a hammer. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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