Tag Archives: Science Fiction Television

The Expanse: Season 5 Primer

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TL;DR – With the new season of The Expanse coming out in less than a week, we will catch you up on where all the characters are before the show explodes back onto our screens.  

The Expanse: Season 5. image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Expanse: Season 5 Primer –

With the next season of The Expanse coming out in under a week, I thought I would stop fretting and counting down the time until release and put that energy into something productive. With that in mind, below you will find a primer for the new season to catch you up on everything you need to know before Friday. For the sake of spoilers, we will be covering everything that has been released in the show so far, and the couple of early clips that have been released from the season but no more. To make this easy, we’ll first give a general overview before explore where each of the main characters are at the start of the season.

Overview:

The general overview is that the new season of The Expanse will drop on Amazon Prime this Friday/Saturday depending on your particular timezone. However, this season, not all the episodes will go live at the same time. The Expanse will be following the lead of The Boys earlier this year that released the first three episodes at once and then weekly from thereon. Personally, I found this to combine the best features of both binging and weekly release, and it worked great with The Boys, so I am looking forward to it here.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 1

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TL;DR – Time to dive back through the looking glass … sort of

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Terra Firma Part 1. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

There has been one character this season that has just been there, doing things, usually comments that cut to someone’s core. However, it felt like we were waiting for the penny to drop Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) … well this is the week for that.

So to set the scene, in last week’s The Sanctuary, we discovered that Georgiou’s condition is going from bad to worse, and there is not a whole lot that Dr Culber (Wilson Cruz) can do about it. While this is going on, Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Adira (Blu del Barrio) found a distress call at the centre of where they think The Burn started. This week, with things going from worse to deadly Culber talks to resident spook Kovich (David Cronenberg) who lets him know that they have seen this before and there is no cure. 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 Mandalorian: Chapter 14 (The Tragedy) – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that is mostly one long action scene, and it just works

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 14 (The Tragedy). Image Credit: Disney+.

The Mandalorian: The Tragedy Review –

As we have seen in shows recently, it isn’t easy to have long action scenes and pull them off. There is so much that goes into a critical action scene, and it is hard to do that successfully at a film level, let alone with the limited time you get to shoot with TV. Well, today’s episode showed that you could pull it off, with some creativity.

So to set the scene, in last week’s Chapter 13 we learned that The Child or Baby Yoda is called Grogu, but that to get him trained they need to go to the old Jedi Temple on Tython. Well, one hop, skip, and hyperspace jump later they arrive, however, it is soon apparent that they are not alone. 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 – Star Trek Discovery: The Sanctuary

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TL;DR – An episode that balances the personal with the large scale story and that was a delight to see.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: The Sanctuary. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

The Sanctuary Review –

We are starting to get to the pointy end of the season for Star Trek Discovery, and many of the story beats that have been thrown out there have begun to come home to roost. Today we get to see three stories based around different members of the crew as well as our first primary interaction with the series apparent big bad.  

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode, we got to see the fruits of Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy / Ethan Peck) labour with the Unification of the Romulan and Vulcan people. But more than that, it was a turning point for Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) in where she wanted to find her home. This week, things get turned on their head, when Book (David Ajala) receives a message from his home pulling the crew, Discovery, and The Federation into a direct confrontation with the Emerald Chain. 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 Mandalorian: Chapter 12 (The Siege) – TV Review

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TL;DR – We return to the familiar but also the safe

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 12 (The Siege). Image Credit: Disney+

The Mandalorian: The Siege Review –

One of the significant issues I had with the first season of The Mandalorian was several episodes just felt like filler and not good filler at that. I had a feeling that we would see this return in the second season, but so far that has not been the case. However, we have been edging closer and closer to this territory, and this week is no exception.

So to set the scene, in last week’s The Heiress, the Razor Crest had seen some better times, and that was after they had tried to repair it. There is no way that Mando (Pedro Pascal) and The Child could make it to Corvus in one piece, so they decide to visit some old friends. Landing in Nevarro, they have greeted Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), who are there to help, but also could use some help in return. 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 – Star Trek Discovery: Scavengers

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TL;DR – An episode where roosters come home to roost.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Scavengers. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Scavengers Review –

There have been a lot of unanswered questions this season that has been left dangling. The first is of course, what or who caused The Burn that devastated the galaxy. Was it a natural phenomenon, was it an accident, or was it on purpose? The second, is what was Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) doing during her yearlong sojourn in the future? Today we get answers on one of those fronts, but also some consequences.  

So to set the scene, in last week’s Die Trying we finally found what was left of The Federation and Starfleet. It had been reduced to about 30 members and is on reactive rather than proactive footing. Well, The Discovery had to prove itself, but it was clear the crew and the ship would be an asset for The Federation, but it was also apparent when it took only one shot to take it down in People of Earth that the ship was woefully out of date. Good thing then that the Discovery has just had a major upgrade, one that went “do you need your nacelles attached to the ship”? This is just the moment that an unannounced cat arrives on the scene. 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 Mandalorian: Chapter 11 (The Heiress) – TV Review

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TL;DR – A visual spectacle with some fun moments but not much more

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 11 (The Heiress). image Credit: Disney+.

The Mandalorian: The Heiress Review –

One of the bonuses of using a streaming service for your delivery platform is that you are not constrained to 1-hour time-slot (well 45min with ads) of broadcast TV. The Mandalorian has already used this to bump up the story and action in the first episode The Marshall. This week we get to see it reverse with a much shorter but more concise episode.

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode The Passenger things didn’t quite go to plan, and that is saying something, which led to the Razor Crest being a leaky sieve with nothing but the cockpit secure from the ravages of space. However, janky it may be, but at the start of this week’s episode we finally make it to Trask an ocean moon orbiting the gas giant Kol Iben. After some … interesting moments landing (that did give me some Firefly flashbacks) they arrive mostly in one piece hoping to find the Mandalorians left on the planet. 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 Discovery: Die Trying – TV Review

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TL;DR – Home, well not quite home, at least not quite yet.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Die Trying. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Die Trying Review –

For the past four episodes, one of the core questions that has been left has been if the Federation and Starfleet even still exist in the 3100s? Well, this is the episode where we get things confirmed, but also where more questions get asked than answered.

So to set the scene, at the end of Forget Me Not when Adira (Blu del Barrio) finally connected with her Trill Symbiont Tal, we finally discovered the location of Starfleet headquarters. It was not on a planet but hidden out in space. When we start this week’s episode, the USS Discovery is on the cusp of making contact. As it approaches, they discover it is hidden behind a disruption field, the ship breaches it and finds multiple Starfleet vessels around a central starbase, even some floating habitats. However, the only thing they were not expecting was a frosty reception. 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 Mandalorian: Chapter 10 (The Passenger) – TV Review

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TL;DR – A visual spectacle with some fun moments but not much more

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 10 (The Passenger). image Credit: Disney+

The Mandalorian: The Passenger Review –

It has been an interesting shift watching the episodes of The Mandalorian one at a time rather than all at once. This is especially true of at least the first three episodes that look like they flow from one to another. Well, we can’t get all of it at once, but we can at least get a taste of what is to come, and I’ll take it.   

So to set the scene, we open with Mando on the way back to Mos Eisley after defeating the Krayt Dragon in The Marshal. Just before he gets back, he and The Child are ambushed, and his racer is destroyed. After the long walk back he runs into Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) in the cantina who tells him that she has a contact who knows where there are more Mandalorians, and she is happy to tell him where they are. The only catch is that the nice Frog Lady (Misty Rosas) needs a ride home … at sublight … and before her spawn becomes unviable. 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 – Star Trek Discovery: Forget Me Not

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TL;DR – A beautiful episode about coming together through the pain of the past

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Forget Me Not. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Forget Me Not Review –

Throughout Star Trek, there has been a long history of letting events happen, but to not really explore the aftermath. However, The Next Generation’s Family as well as, Deep Space Nine’s It’s Only a Paper Moon, both show that this can be some of the best the show can make. This week’s episode also knew this lesson and was the better for it.    

So to set the scene, so far this season, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) got trapped in the future alone for a year, the USS Discovery crash-landed on a planet with ice that eats you, and last week we found out that Earth had become an isolationist power and the Federation had left 100 years ago. All of this is leaving a toll on the crew because there has been no time to process what has happened to them appropriately. Things are starting to fray, which is understandable given the circumstances, but who will be the first to break. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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