Tag Archives: PLUR1BUS

My Top 10 TV Shows of 2025

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This was an odd year for TV for me because I found myself going back to shows from my youth rather than exploring as much of the year as I would typically do. So this year, we will look at all the shows we reviewed in 2025 and pick our Top 10 of the 35 shows we reviewed. For a show to count, it needed to end its run or season in 2025.  

Highly Commended – Foundation, The Last of Us, NCIS: Sydney, Peacemaker, Rick and Morty, Sunny Nights & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Special Awards:

  • Best Adaptation of a Beautiful Moment from the Source Material: The Last of Us’s The Price
  • Best Crash Out at a Wedding: Mon Mothma in Andor
  • Best Eagle: Eagly in Peacemaker
  • Best Present Given: An [Explosive Spoiler] in PLUR1BUS
  • Best Under the Influence of a Narcotic: Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry
  • Best You Should Have Listened to Me About the UK PM: Kate in The Diplomat
  • Most Frustrating Retcon from the Source Material: Bayta Mallow in Foundation
  • Unfortunately, Wasted Casting: Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who
  • Wildest Twist: The start and end of the first episode of Paradise

So, without further ado, these are our Top 10 TV Shows of 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the shows in question.

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Worldbuilding that Astounded Us in 2025

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One of the benefits of film and television as a visual medium is that you can do in a single frame what it might take a book several pages of description to pull off. We see this the most in its ability to build worlds in front of our eyes.

These worlds could be great space operas exploring galaxies, a small period piece that looks back in time, or anything. But when every part of the film is used to tell a story, you know it is good. It must be more than just what someone sticks in an opening scrawl, though it is also what someone sticks in an opening scrawl.    

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Companion, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, KPop Demon Hunters, Predator: Badlands, Primitive War, Sinners, Superman & Wake Up Dead Man
 Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, Foundation, Heated Rivalry, Murderbot, Paradise, Peacemaker, Silo & Skeleton Crew

So, without further ado, these films showed excellence in Worldbuilding 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Musical Scores of 2025 That Wowed Us

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One factor that I will always look out for in a film or tv show is the musical score. When a musical score is transcendent it can get caught in my soul in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do not know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.

Music charts the cinematic world as it guides us, lifts us up, and yet it can also crush our souls with a couple of notes on a piano. This is its power.

Also, a reminder that this award is for Musical Scores and Original Songs only, so no needle drops or non-original songs.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Brutalist, Conclave, F1, How to Train Your Dragon, One Battle After Another, Thunderbolts* &Tron: Ares


Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Doctor Who, Murderbot, Paradise & The Residence

So, without further ado, these are the musical scores that moved us in 2025. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead.

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Tension That Kept You On The Edge Of Your Seat In 2025!

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Well, we have looked at Action, then Emotion and swung wildly across the spectrum to Fun, and now we are completing that series by looking at Tension. Tension is one of the most challenging facets of filmmaking because it requires the script, direction, acting, and editing to all work in tandem to evoke the perfect pace. If just one part of that group misses, then an essential part of the film falls apart.

In 2025, we continued to see some excellent use of tension to build mystery, to be the harbinger of the coming dread, or even to tick the clock of inevitability.   

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: 28 Years Later, Drop, The Long Walk, The Lost Bus, Nosferatu & Sinners
Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Diplomat, Paradise & Silo

So, without further ado, these moments of tension kept us on the edge of our seats in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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PLUR1BUS: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly moving series exploring isolation, consent, and free will in the framework of an all-powerful and all-knowing Hivemind.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – This series contains flashing lights.

Warning – This series contains scenes that may cause distress

71D 13H 31M 30S.

PLUR1BUS Review –

To be honest, I was not sure what to expect when I sat down to watch Pluribus. I didn’t expect Pluribus to immediately contend for my favourite series of the year — though in hindsight, given the creative pedigree, perhaps I should have. But whatever the case, few shows have made me ponder like this.   

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 season as a whole, so there may be [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.

Continue reading →