Tag Archives: Matthew Finlan

Neagley: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – While it has a slow start, it sinks its hooks in as you desperately want to see the bad guys fail before the bodies pile up too high.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service used to view this series.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Neagley jumping through the air.

Neagley Review Introduction –

One of Amazon Prime’s most successful series in recent years has been Reacher, and given its success, it was only a matter of time before someone tried a spin-off. But if you are going to spin off such a successful series, you need to have a good hook, and I think one of the most successful supporting cast members is a good place to start. Now, we have had the chance to watch the season, and it is time to dive back in to see if it worked or not.   

So, to set the scene, it is 2 am in Chicago, and a man walks out onto the train line tracks into oncoming traffic and is killed instantly. The man, Tommy Crane (Jhaleil Swaby), was an old childhood friend of Neagley (Maria Sten), who has just finished off a successful resolution of a kidnapping case with a little help from her old boss Reacher (Alan Ritchson). While she had not seen Tommy in years, him getting so high that he would walk out onto oncoming traffic does not sound like him, and so she must investigate. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Heated Rivalry: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly compelling if fundamentally risqué series that explores relationships in the harshest place through the lens of a visionary auteur.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Hollander on the back of a jersey.

Heated Rivalry Review –

When people were mapping out what would be the go-to pop culture event for the end of the year, it would have been a safe bet to pick something like the final season of Stranger Things, or maybe the bombastic Avatar. Few predicted that the year’s breakout cultural moment would come not from a blockbuster franchise but from a modest Canadian drama. Well, if you spend any time on the internet, you know how successful it has been in cutting through the noise of the algorithm, so let’s have a look and see.

So, to set the scene, in 2008, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) has had one drive all his life: to be the best hockey player of all time. But on the cusp of being drafted, he meets the new Russian prodigy Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov (Connor Storrie) at the International Prospect Cup final. Six months later, they have been drafted to rival teams, Boston Raiders & Montreal Metros, of the Major League Hockey (MLH). When the two of them meet again, they find they have undeniable chemistry, and one thing leads to the other. But there are no out gay players in the MLH, so the two keep this tryst/relationship/booty call/whatever you want to call it a secret, lest anyone find out and their careers are ruined. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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