Tag Archives: Iain Glen

TV Review – Cleverman: Season 2

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TL;DR – A brilliant follow up from Season One

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Season Two

Review –

So Season Two of Cleverman has come, hit us hard, and it’s now over. So we have had some time to think back and contemplate on the overarching themes for the season and how it worked, which is what we are going to do today. So today with our review we will look at how Season Two improved on Season One, look at the central themes and characters, and finally conclude on the importance of Cleverman.  Before we start, just a warning that we will be talking about the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS]. Also, this will be looking more broadly at the season, if you what to look at individual episodes, then you can look at our reviews here: Revival, Bindawu, Dark Clouds, Muya, Skin & Borrowed Time.

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TV Review – Cleverman: Borrowed Time

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TL;DR – Indeed everyone is on Borrowed Time, as choices come to a head in the season finale

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Borrowed Time

Review –

So we’ve reached the end of Season Two with the final episode Borrowed Time, and after five weeks of everyone making mistakes, tonight it all comes to a head. At the end of last week’s Skin (review) we had that shocking moment when Charlotte (Frances O’Connor) defending herself and her baby put a scalpel right into Slade’s (Iain Glen) neck, though we didn’t see him die. Now there is one thing you need to know about TV, and that is they are not dead until we see the body, and even then everything is up for grabs. Well, first up tonight not only do we find out, yep he’s dead, but we also find out that he ended up going nowhere in the end, because (and I had forgotten this) he got caught up in the blue wave at the end of Season One. That was a really powerful opener but Borrowed Time doesn’t stop there, and a reminder as we will be talking about the episode as a whole, there are [SPOILERS] ahead.
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TV Review – Game of Thrones: The Queen’s Justice

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TL;DR – In the Battle of Queens you win or you die

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Stormborn

Review –

So at the end of last week’s Stormborn (review) a lot went down, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) lost a big chunk of her forces when they were attacked on the way to Sunspear, we lost some Sand Snakes, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) was captured and Theon (Alfie Allen) said to Yara (Gemma Whelan) “Euron your own”. In the North Jon (Kit Harington) left Sansa (Sophie Turner) in charge to go treat with the Dragon Queen, but also didn’t kill Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) which is a mistake at least half of the characters in the show has made so far. So what will tonight’s episode hold for use, will people’s mistakes come home to roost, will someone kill Littlefinger, how will Sam (John Bradley) gross us out, let’s find out. As always there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
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TV Review – Cleverman: Skin

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TL;DR – Today we find out that there are consequences for actions and what happens when you push things too far.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Cleverman

Review –

So we have reached the penultimate episode of Cleverman’s sophomore season and we are starting to get a glimpse of the end game and how it presumes things are about to get significantly worse. So at the end of last week’s Muya (review), things reached a head and finally Koen (Hunter Page-Lochard) stood up to take the mantle of cleverman and you can tell he’s serious because he unlocked his superhero costume, and you only earn the superhero costume when things are about to get real. However, at the end of last week we find many of our characters are in precarious places, Nerida (Jada Alberts) has lost the two girls under her protection, Charlotte (Frances O’Connor) has been kidnapped by Jarli (Clarence Ryan) and her future is still far from being safe, and Alinta (Tamala Shelton) is now trapped in her father Waruu’s (Rob Collins) house, which should be the safest place in the world for her, yet somehow we can’t feel like it is. Now we will be discussing the episode in depth so there may be some [SPOILERS] moving forward.
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TV Review – Game of Thrones: Stormborn

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TL;DR – We have reunions and goodbyes, a whole ton of mistakes. and wonder is Samwell’s only job this season is to make us gag

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Stormborn

Review –

So Season Seven powers on and tonight is no exception, so who is the Stormborn and what will that mean for Westeros? Let’s find out. Now to catch us up to where we were at the end of last week’s Dragonstone (Review), The Hound (Rory McCann) is making his way through the Riverlands being reminded by his past, while Arya (Maisie Williams) is making her way to Kings Landing after de-Freying The Twins to … wait was that Ed Sheeran? In Kings Landing Cersei (Lena Headey) is posturing, though Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) puts her in her place only to be then out-flirted by Euron (Pilou Asbæk) who has reached peak-leather. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) after six seasons of gallivanting around Essos has finally landed in Westeros, taking over her old home Dragonstone and getting rid of the Stannis smell that was still there. In the North, Sansa (Sophie Turner) showed we learned all the wrong lessons from Cersei, and could someone just kill Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and get it over and done with.  Finally, we were told several times, don’t worry about the White Walkers, they can’t get past The Wall, you know that wall that has always been there, and has never fallen … gee I wonder, oh and Samwell (John Bradley) grossed himself and everyone else out at Oldtown. So that is where we have come from, now let’s jump into Stormborn, and a warning there will be [SPOILERS] present.
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TV Review – Cleverman: Muya

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TL;DR – Relationships and repaired and torn, and for some blackmail is the least of their worries

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Cleverman Muya

Review –

So at the end of last week’s episode Dark Clouds (review) we find that Aunty Linda (Deborah Mailman) didn’t just cause Koen’s (Hunter Page-Lochard) parents deaths through negligence, but she was actively trying to kill them, and then Waruu (Rob Collins) just slit Koen’s throat and slapped on some red kryptonite sap from a Melaleuca to stop him from regenerating. Oh boy, was that a lot to take in, and we have had a week to learn what everyone’s fate will be, and tonight’s episode Muya packs all the same punches and more, as we continue our drive to the end of the season. Just a warning, there will be some [SPOILERS] going forward so be careful.
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TV Review – Cleverman: Bindawu & Dark Clouds

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TL;DR – As Season Two continues we start to see where the lines in the sand will be drawn, and characters are starting to take a stand against the coming storm

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Cleverman Bindawu & Dark Clouds Banner

Review –

So we continue our look at Cleverman’s second season, and after the carnage of Revival (review), we get a couple of episodes to hold our breath … nope, we continue steam rolling through the season with carnage in our wake. So today we will be discussing both Bindawu & Dark Clouds so there may be some spoilers going forward, however, if you want to be careful and have not watched these episodes, then I would suggest avoiding the paragraph on openings and cliff-hangers towards the bottom.

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TV Review – Game of Thrones: Dragonstone

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TL;DR – Dragonstone moves everyone into place and sets the scene for what is to come, whilst really trying to get you to give up your lunch in the process

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Game of Thrones - Dragonstone Banner

Review –

We’re in the penultimate season of Game of Thrones and goodness what a ride it’s been so far we’ve had the highs of the Battle of the Bastards, and the lows of Dorne, and everything in between. But now after six seasons, things are starting to fall into place, pieces that have been moving for seasons are now ready to collide, and boy are we looking forward to it.

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TV Review – Cleverman: Revival

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TL;DR – Season 2 opens with a bang, leaves you wanting more, and fearing the worst.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Cleverman

Review –

Wow what an opener, I mean we loved Season One of Cleverman, but I don’t think anything prepared us for how this first episode of Season Two was going to play out. So to remind everyone of where we left off last season, Koen (Hunter Page-Lochard) had rallied all the remaining residents of The Zone to fight the coming Containment Authority. His brother Waruu (Rob Collins) rejected his family and his people to stand with Jarrod Slade (Iain Glen) who is trying to unlock Hairy DNA and the power it possesses and that creep probably did something to his wife Charlotte’s (Frances O’Connor) pregnancy. Finally, Araluen (Tasma Walton) was able to escape the brothel she had been imprisoned in after killing the minister in charge. All through the season we were building up to the conflict, Koen was understanding and accepting his role as the Cleverman, and then bang season two opens and Koen is dead in a body bag, and you know nothing is safe anymore. So in our review today we are going to be covering all the aspects of the first episode of Season Two, so there will be [SPOILERS] for those who have not seen it yet. If you have not seen Revival yet, you can watch it easily on ABC IView, or SundanceTV, and you should go do that right now.
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Movie Review – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

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TL;DR – Somewhere in here is a good movie, unfortunately, it is smothered in poor action, the need to jump cut eight times every second, and an entirely predictable story.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

So Hollywood has been on a bit of a bender recently bringing back franchises from the 2000s to give them another try. First, it was Underworld, then XXX, and now the granddaddy of them all (by a couple of months) Resident Evil. Now, of course, Resident Evil does have a bit more stability in its releases compared to the other two, but when in Rome, lump a bunch of stuff together to make it easier to analysis, so who am I to disagree. Honestly, I do have to say I did quite like the first two films in the series, the first Resident Evil had some iconic scenes, and the second really made the most out of its unfolding zombie apocalypse setting, you know before we got sick of that particular setting, thanks, Hollywood. However, since then the Resident Evil films have felt more like rehashes of each other, different movie, same themes, so I was actually quite excited when they named this next film ‘The Final Chapter’. I wanted to see them really go for it, take that final chapter mantra to heart, and knock it out of the park, but alas once again my optimistic nature has been dealt a blow.

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