Tag Archives: Sci-fi

TV Review – Rick and Morty: Mort: Ragnarick

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TL;DR – A classic episode structured in such a way that it knows it will get complaints from an entire religious organisation.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Valhalla.

Rick and Morty Review –

As we continue through this very disjointed and somewhat experimental season, culminating in last week’s Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie, which was a Rick and Morty episode without Rick. Well, it’s almost as if they knew the response to that episode and prepared accordingly because this week’s episode, named after Thor: Ragnarok, is almost like a classic episode writ large, including a b-plot for a change.

So to set the scene, after killing Jerry (Chris Parnell) multiple times to confirm, Rick (Ian Cardoni) finds out that there are “heavens” of some sort. But Rick, being Rick, wants to tap into that unlimited energy, and it can be just any kind of heaven. So, he and Morty (Harry Belden) go to Norway, where he gets Bigfoot () to kill him so he can go to Ragnarok. It’s a solid plan. I just sure hope nothing goes wrong. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Giggle – TV Review

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TL;DR – A riot of dancing and murder as a villain from the deep past returns and carves up the screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Many, many messed up dolls.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, it has been a ride, but today, we have come to the end of the three Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. We started with Donna (Catherine Tate) and The Doctor (David Tennant) getting back together in The Star Beast. Then we got weird with Wild Blue Yonder, which harkened back to a classic episode of the show. But all of these come to their fruition tonight when we get an old villain returning, some good friends, oh and probably a regeneration.

So to set the scene, in Soho in 1925, there was a toy maker who was unnerving in the extreme, with a German accent that seemed to slip. I mean, what could be the worst thing to be sent on the first TV signal but a burning doll head? Back in the Today, at the end of Wild Blue Yonder, The Doctor and Donna crash land back into the alley they left in The Star Beastto find Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) waiting for them. Because everyone else has gone into hiding as the world falls apart. Because everyone thinks they are right all the time, and they will not back down for anything. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie

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TL;DR – Asks the question, can you do an episode of Rick and Morty without Rick? And the answer is: sure.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Moments befroe the death of Q

Rick and Morty Review –

It can be hard to break when you have built your show around some bedrock principles, so you have enshrined them in your show’s title. Well, if this season of Rick and Morty is known for one thing, it is breaking with what they have established in the past, and this time that is, can you have a Rick and Morty episode without Rick?

So to set the scene, Morty (Harry Belden) has one of those rare moments where he is not out on an adventure with Rick (Ian Cardoni) and is instead at Harry Herpson High School in Mr. Goldenfold’s (Brandon Johnson) math class. After getting detention, he is held back, which is when Water-T (Dan Harmon) arrives because the Numbericons have invaded his planet and killed his father, Helium-Q (Ice-T). Now, only Goldenfold can save them. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Star Beast – TV Review

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TL;DR – We hit back to the joyful chaos of the past, and not even a couple of clunky moments hold it back from being a delight.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, there are many constants in the universe, and one of them is Doctor Who getting a new regeneration, or well, in this case, an old regeneration, to prepare for a new regeneration. Look, this is the first time this has happened, but also, this feels like something that could happen all the time. This is also the moment Doctor Who takes a real jump across the pond with the global backing of Disney+. It is both a brand-new era and the return of what has come before, a very Doctor Who situation.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Power of The Doctor, The Doctor regenerated, but something odd happened. Instead of a brand-new body, he knew those teeth, he knew that face, and he was still not a ginger. For The Doctor (David Tennant) had regenerated into the same body as the Tenth Doctor [who technically already got a regeneration, but we don’t count that]. Something is very wrong, or it could be that this version of The Doctor has some unfinished business that he needs to take care of. Which is right when he runs into Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her child Rose (Yasmin Finney) and then a spaceship crashes into the heart of London. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Mapping Star Trek Series – Map-It

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TL;DR – We map every location on Earth used as a ship name in the Star Trek universe.

The fleet comes together.

Mapping Star Trek –

At the end of last season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, we were introduced to nineteen new members of the California Class. Which made me wonder where they fit on a map of California and lo our Lower Decks Map was created. However, since then, I have wondered what would happen if we expanded it globally. We have had 849 episodes of Star Trek at the time of writing, so we have charted every ship, shuttle, class and transport named after an Earth location.  

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Asteroid City – Movie Review

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TL;DR – The framing device does not work, but that is not a significant issue, as it is still an entertaining romp even without it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Mechanics.

Asteroid City Review –

Wes Anderson is one of those filmmakers with entirely his own style and can delight or confuse. Before I see one of his films, I am always wondering which way the pendulum will swing for me, and I think this is one of his works that will hit people differently. As I have heard people gushing over it and others bringing a more meh response. But it is finally time for the film in Australia, and it is time for us to check it out.

So to set the scene, we are introduced to a Host (Bryan Cranston) that introduces us to an anthology TV series that is showing the story behind the stage play Asteroid City by noted playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), which is then presented to us as the movie proper. In a small out of the way town of Asteroid City in the middle of the American desert, there is a crater, an inn, a research centre, and an unfinished overpass. Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), a noted war photojournalist, has arrived officially because his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan)  is a Junior Stargazer. Still, unofficially because their mother is dead, and he is about to dump his kids on their grandfather Stanley (Tom Hanks). But things change when he meets Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), and oh, the world changes.  

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Charades – TV Review

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TL;DR – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, but in space is a good set-up for a fun story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Something is very wrong.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One of the best choices for the first season of Strange New Worlds was to delve into the relationship between Spock (Ethan Peck) and his then fiancé T’Pring (Gia Sandhu). We only got one episode of this in The Original Series, so it makes sense to shed more light on it here. This led to the amazing Spock Amok and now its follow-up Charades.

So to set the scene, the USS Enterprise is making a slow loop through the Vulcan sector as they explore a moon of the extinct Kerkhov species before visiting Vulcan, where Spock will have a V’Shal dinner. However, Spock and Chapel (Jess Bush) get sucked into a vortex while exploring the ruins. When the Enterprise found the shuttle, it had been repaired from the crash, but when they put Spock back together, they made him fully human. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – TV Review

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TL;DR – An interesting episode on its surface narrative, but even more intriguing once you think about the ramifications.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The USS Enterprise.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

If there has been one thing that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has excelled at, it is making the most out of its ensemble cast. Nearly every central cast member gets to play a role in the A or B story for the week. However, they also make sure that everyone gets their own focus episode. [well, almost everyone, shout out to Ortegas (Melissa Navia)]. This week it is La’an turn to shine as we get whisked away from the Enterprise to somewhere a bit closer to home.  

So to set the scene, La’an Noonien-Singh’s (Christina Chong) role as chief of security means that she has the unfortunate job of knowing everyone’s business, even when they don’t want it, which is amplified given her mixed emotions regarding Una (Rebecca Romijn) and her behaviour when Una came out as a modified Illyrian. But as she was walking the deck of the USS Enterprise, a white light exploded out from another room, and a gentleman in a suit and a gun wound walked out, talking about an explosion that she had to stop. He disappears in another bright light, but when La’an makes it to the bridge, James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) is now the captain and no one knows who she is. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – One of the strongest opening seasons I have seen, jumping from genre to genre like it was nothing

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The USS Enterprise from behind

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

In 2019, I wrote about how we were entering ‘A New Golden Age of Science Fiction on Television’ and back then, we only had Discovery and the coming Picard. We had no idea of the explosion of Star Trek that was about to come our way, and at the core of that new wave was the announcement of Strange New Worlds, a show that would explore Captain Pike’s time at the helm of the USS Enterprise. Another prequel series led to more than a bit of concern, but now that we have seen it, I can say this might be one of the best opening series of Television that I have seen in an age.

So to set the scene, after the event of Star Trek Discovery: Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2, Pike (Anson Mount) has been hiding out in his cabin in Bear Creek, Montana. He has been dealing with the revelation that he will be badly wounded in the future. To the point, he is very much considering leaving Starfleet. That is until Admiral Robert April (Adrian Holmes) takes a shuttle and unambiguously tells Pike that Number One (Rebecca Romijn) is missing and if he wants to leave, he can do it after this. Well, one, unfortunately, timed phone call to Vulcan to pick up Spock (Ethan Peck), and the Enterprise is on to Kiley 279 to find out what happened to the USS Archer. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Picard – Farewell and Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A season mixed with highs and lows, but at least started and ended on a high note.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this episode.

Jupiter

Star Trek: Picard Review –

We have reached the end of Star Trek Picard’s second season, and as I look back on what has come, I can see great heights and deep valleys. While there were some frustrations, when the season worked, it was some of Star Trek’s best. With that in mind, what we will do in this review is look at how the second season charted its way through and then how it landed with the finale episode, Farewell.

To set the scene, at the end of Hide and Seek, the crew of the La Sirena are no longer the crew of the La Sirena because Raffi (Michelle Hurd) did a deal with Queen Jurati (Alison Pill) where she traded the ship for Seven’s (Jeri Ryan) life. However, before Queen Jurati left, she gave the team a clue about how to save Renée (Penelope Mitchell) and their timeline. The only question is how many more sacrifices will Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew need to make to end this final game of Q (John de Lancie). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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