Tag Archives: Streaming

NCIS: Sydney – Heart Starter – TV Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – I think this first episode did everything that it needed to do. It tied up the cliffhanger from last season and gave it the motivation to move forward, even if there were a couple of missteps.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Back in 2023, there was this odd experiment that played out across the streaming space: what would happen when you smashed an American and Australian Police Procedural together and then put it into the weirdly optimistic world of the NCIS franchise? Well, there were some missed opportunities, but overall, by the end of the season, it had found its feet. The question then becomes, can they continue that good work into their new season?

So, to set the scene, while we may start with a funeral possession, the episode actually begins in the moments after the season finale, Blonde Ambition, with Mackey (Olivia Swann) drawing her gun on the now fundamental suspicious Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who JD (Todd Lasance) just phoned on an assassin’s phone, which would be more of an issue if he didn’t just have a heart attack. An international assassin was killed, and a child returned to their father. But a tier one villain is out of custody and on the run, and the powers at Be are looking for a scapegoat, and they are coming for everyone. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

Shrinking: Season 1 – TV Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – This is a delightfully sad, yet also uplifting, series of broken people doing broken things, yet finding the strength to be better in each other.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Paul on a couch reflecting on his life.

Shrinking Review –

Recently, there has been a running theme of there being a lot of good shows on AppleTV+ that absolutely no one is watching because the channel cannot seem to advertise anything that is not Ted Lasso. Now, while I have jammed with a lot of the sci-fi that they have, like Silo and Foundation, I think this would be an excellent time to see what else the service has to offer. The first stop in this exploration is a show that has been heavily recommended to me, and with that cast, I can understand why.  

So, to set the scene, it is late one night, like 3 a.m., and Liz (Christa Miller) and her husband Derek (Ted McGinley) are trying to work out who is going to go down and tell their neighbour Jimmy (Jason Segel) to turn off their music and stop making noise in the pool. Jimmy clearly looks to be an emotional mess who is trying to self-medicate via illicit substances and people you hire late at night for their professional services. That looks even worse in the morning when you see that disaster unfold with his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) ghosting him, there being no petrol in his car, and a bike that does not quite fit. The good thing is that it looks like Jimmy is going to therapy until you realise that he is the therapist.   

Continue reading →

An Exploration of Audience Engagement on Twitch

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – We look at three creators who are creating unique, engaging moments with their audiences

Article –

For better or worse, one of the modern Internet features is that anyone can be a creator, publishing across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, among others. Today we will focus on Twitch’s streaming platform, where we will explore the many ways creators engage with their audiences. To do this, we will first give a general overview of Twitch for those who might not be familiar with it. Then we will look at three very different creators engaging with their audiences and allowing their audiences to engage with them in unique and odd ways.

Continue reading →

Among Us – Video Game Review

Posted on by
12

TL;DR – A straightforward game that has layers of depth and works no matter what role you get

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Among Us. Image Credit: Innersloth.

Among Us Review –

In the board game realm, there is a genre of games called ‘hidden role’ games. These are games like Avalon, Mafia de Cuba or Secret Hitler where on the surface all the players are trying to complete a task together. This task could be fighting an evil empire, hoarding your boss’ diamonds, or getting rid of the fascist elements of the government. However, around the table secretly, there are some players whose job is to do the exact opposite. I have seen many video games try to capture that feeling but never quite getting there, well that is until today.

So to set the scene, you and your fellow crewmate are on a drop-ship to a new location. It could be another spaceship, an aerostat military base, or a research station on a planet. Something has gone wrong, and your job is to work together to complete several tasks like refuelling the ship, clearing out the trash, or shooting down some approaching asteroids. All of this is very routine; however, among your crew, there is an Imposter (or Imposters) whose job is to stop you from completing the tasks by killing you off one by one.

Continue reading →