Tag Archives: Post-Apocalyptic

Silo: Truth – TV Review

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TL;DR – Murder, politics, and conspiracies, oh my.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Truth.

Silo Review –

Murder, political intrigue, and conspiracy, well, now you are speaking my language. I have enjoyed my time down in the depths of the Silo, but so far, we have been given whispers as to what will be the primary drive as we advance. Well, today, we get more than whispers because someone just murdered the mayor, and that tends to be a catalysing event.  

So to set the scene, in Machines, we learned that Holston Becker’s (David Oyelowo) last act as sheriff was to appoint Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) as his successor. However, on her first day, she is presented with the most significant challenge the Silo has ever faced. Someone has murdered Mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James). Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) is distraught, Robert Sims (Common) from judicial and Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) from IT are trying to manage the political fallout. But everyone knows that the Silo is about to change. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Silo: Machines – TV Review

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TL;DR – The tension ramps up as the power shuts down.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The Park level in the Silo.

Silo Review –

I think that as a society, we take the connection to water and electricity for granted and would have no concept of what to do if it went out for an hour, let alone more. But what happens when you live deep underground and that power generator is the only thing keeping you from living in the dark, allowing you to breathe … well suddenly, you need to care about it much more.  

So to set the scene, we discovered two very interesting things at the end of Holston’s Pick. First, Holston (David Oyelowo) picked Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) to be his replacement as sheriff. Also that Juliette’s late partner found a hidden door in the deep caverns where they hid the machine that dug the Silo. As the mystery abounds, Mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James) and Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) make the slow trip down 140 levels to the bowels of the Silo, where it is not just the generator that is shaking things apart.Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Silo: Holston’s Pick – TV Review

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TL;DR – We delve deeper into this world and its story, and I am hooked.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The doors to the outside open.

Silo Review –

I was intrigued by what we got when I watched the first episode. It was a familiar scenario, but the creatives behind the show presented it in a fresh way with a time-shifted story that didn’t feel convoluted. However, one big thing missing from that first episode was Rebecca Ferguson, who was front and centre of the marketing campaign before the show was released. Well, episode two is here to fix that.

So to set the scene, we open with Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo) donning the suit as he commits to going outside after he broke the one unbreakable rule in the Silo during Freedom Day. He says his goodbyes to Mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James) and Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) and takes those final steps outside, where he sees a world full of life … maybe. But down in the bowls of the Silo, Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) is declaring his betrayal, as we find out much more than we suspect happened when Sheriff Holston came down to investigate the murder or suicide of George Wilkins (Ferdinand Kingsley). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Silo: Freedom Day – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a solid start to the intrigue that did the best job a first episode can do, making me want to see more.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Allison seeing something that they tried to keep hidden.

Silo Review –

I am always looking for a new genre show with an exciting spin on a setting. While the whole hiding away from the apocalypse in a bunker has been done before, probably most famously by Fallout. However, I am still drawn to this setting for the narrative potential you can find. Let’s bring on this new dystopian/post-apocalyptic/mystery and see what it can do.   

So to set the scene, they do not know why they are there, who built the Silo, why the world outside is a toxic mess, or if it will ever be safe to go back outside. It is on this day when Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo) goes up to his office, takes off his badge, locks himself in a jail cell, and utters the words that chill his Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) to the core “I want to go out”. The only words once spoken that can’t be taken back. Someone is waiting for him out there in the dust, Allison (Rashida Jones), whom we met over three years earlier. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.      

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The Last of Us: Look for the Light & Season 1– TV Review

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TL;DR – In a show about the end of the world, this is the first episode to truly explore the levels of violence that could be found in the ruins of the old world.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Running for safety.

The Last of Us Review –

When I started watching this season a couple of months ago, I came in with some trepidation. To begin with, many video game adaptations had fallen flat because those adapting them didn’t understand the genre or were embarrassed with the course material. Something that had already happened to one of Playstation’s marquee programs. Second, I was just coming off the masterclass of post-apocalyptic fiction with Station Eleven, and I knew I would constantly be comparing the two. But watching this first season, all my fears evaporated in amazement at what I was watching.    


So to set the scene, we open in the woods outside of Boston where a young woman Anna (Ashley Johnson), is running through the trees as screams erupt behind her. She is about to give birth, but the fungus waits for no one, and the walker bursts through a door as the contractions are coming. Fighting the creature off, she gives birth only to see she has been bitten on the leg. She cuts the umbilical cord before contamination could happen and entrusts the little baby Ellie into the care of her best friend Marlene (Merle Dandridge). In the show’s current timeline, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) have made it to the outskirts of Salt Lake City, and the end of their journey is near. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: When We Are in Need – TV Review

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TL;DR – In a show about the end of the world, this is the first episode to truly explore the levels of violence that could be found in the ruins of the old world.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

"When we are in need He shall provide" banner

The Last of Us Review –

There is a deep breath that you take when you can feel the endgame coming, and you might not be ready for what is about to go down. This is even true for me. Who knows just what is about to go down. So as we head into the penultimate episode of the season, it is a time to prepare ourselves for what we are about to see.

So to set the scene, at the end of Kin, just after Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) discovered the direction of the Fireflies and things were looking up. They were for a moment until Joel got stabbed by some raiders, and Ellie had to drag him to an abandoned house to survive. In Left Behind, Joel begged Ellie to leave him and fly back to Jackson, but she refused to let him die. But now they have bigger problems than a bleeding-out Joel because those raiders might be back for more. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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The Last of Us: Left Behind – TV Review

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TL;DR – This episode shows that The Last of Us knows how to go small just as well as it can go big.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The

The Last of Us Review –

We are at an interesting point in the season. You can see that we are on the cusp of the end game, having tramped almost across the continental USA during the season. However, we might be entering the darkest times, or at least the darkest times so far. But for me personally, this show has already emotionally wrecked me in episodes like Long Long Time, and I am not sure I am ready for it to twist the knife it has already stabbed in me.   

So to set the scene, in Kin, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) finally made it to Wyoming after walking for months after escaping Kansas City in Endure and Survive. It was a moment of celebration and also deep self-reflection for Joel. But more than that, they finally got a solid lead on the Fireflies, The University of Eastern Colorado. They had already left, but breadcrumbs on a map showed a new destination in Salt Lake City. Finally, an endpoint to their travels, well it would be, but then someone had to go stab Joel, and Ellie has to keep him alive. Or should she do what Joel says, leave him to die, and return to safety? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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The Last of Us: Kin – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, we wallow in the murky grey of a fallen world.  

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Sunset in the grass.

The Last of Us Review –

One of the best tests of a show is how it can capture your attention in both the loud and quiet moments. Yes, you can do a good action scene, but do I believe two characters are family with troubled pasts? Can you pull off tenderness as well as bombast? Well, this week, we get an episode of television that can nail both extremes.

So to set the scene, it has been three months since Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) left Kansas City in Endure and Survive, but the legacy of what happened there still weighs heavily on Joel. They are making their way to Wyoming but being on foot and in a post-apocalyptic world means you can get lost quite easily. This is when they run into the cabin of Marlon (Graham Greene), and Florence (Elaine Miles), who tell them where they are going is past the River of Death, where no one comes back from. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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The Last of Us: Endure and Survive – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, we wallow in the murky grey of a fallen world.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A child's drawing on the wall.

The Last of Us Review –

One of the strengths of any great post-apocalypse literature is the way it uses the setting to tell human stories. It changes it from exploitative media to one examining the human condition. But that involves a story that steps out of the accessible black-and-white realm of narrative storytelling and into the murky world of grey.   

So to set the scene, it is about ten days before Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) make their way into Kansas City and the city is awash in celebrations and an orgy of violence. The old FEDRA government has been taken down, and across the city, members of FEDRA and their collaborators are being hunted down and exterminated by the new leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey). Outside of the QZ, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and his brother Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard) are on the run from Kathleen and are almost out of food when a pickup crashes into a laundromat across the road, and a new opportunity arises. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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The Last of Us: Please Hold to My Hand – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first almost filler episode, where it exists to set up next week’s episode, but it is still an engaging 45 minutes of tv.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

A collapsed train bridge.

The Last of Us Review –

After last week’s Long Long Time, very emotionally heavy episode, it is good that we can take a step back from that this week. But this is the week where we get more of the vibes of where the show will go and some of the challenges that will be in the way.

So to set the scene, after leaving the relative safety of Bill’s town, Ellie (Pedro Pascal) and Joel (Bella Ramsey) slowly make their way across America, filling up the car every hour or so because the gasoline is not as good as it used to be. But when the way past Kansas City is blocked at a tunnel, Joel risks cutting through the city to get back on the highway, which is where they get ambushed. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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