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The Last of Us: Convergence & Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A slightly odd finale that has me ruminating about the strength of the season.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

End Credit Scene – There is a behind-the-scenes making-of.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Last of Us Review –

Well, we have come to the end of Season Two, and I was not ready, and I don’t mean that from a more existential way, though there is a bit of that in there. But more, the fact that this season only being seven episodes long caught me entirely off guard. Now, our final episode of the season has to do a lot of heavy lifting to stick the landing, and I am concerned going in, that this might be too much of a task to ask of it.  

So, to set the scene, at the end of Feel Her Love, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) becomes separated from Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino) in the park, which leads to her discovering that there are places where the cordyceps have built up enough that it can affect people with their spores, but also where she enacted the first part of her revenge. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: Feel Her Love – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today, it feels like we have hit the point of no return, that moment when you can not undo what you have become.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making-of.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Ellie playing a guitar on the theatre stage.

The Last of Us Review –

It has been said that “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”, a phrase often linked to the philosopher Confucius, but I think he never actually said it. But I digress. The phrase is as evocative as it is because you can understand how that drive for revenge can push out all reasonable thought and make you act in ways that actively hurt yourself. Literature is full of revenge narratives, from simple calling, like you hurt an old lady whom I liked, or you killed my dog. All the way to convoluted messes like we don’t like your politics of fear, so we are going to kill you. But no matter the narrative, there is always a tipping point, and I think we have hit one of them today.     

So, to set the scene, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) have firmly planted themselves in Seattle and are actively hunting down the ones who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). Thankfully for them, a war has broken out between the WLF and the Scars. It provides a lot of coverage and a lot of information. People can help but chat over the radio, and Dina hears everything on Day Two. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: Through the Valley – TV Review

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TL;DR – It shows the strength of the production team that even when you know how the narrative will go, yet you are still sitting on the edge of your chair.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

Abby looks out over the town of Jackson.

The Last of Us Review –

Look, I have to speak very vaguely here because we are on the wrong side of the spoiler zone, but when I said during our review of Future Days that I came into this season with a bit of apprehension, today’s episode was at the forefront of my mind. Could this adaptation pull off multiple story points that will echo not just throughout the show but out into general pop culture? Well, let’s have a look.  

So, to set the scene, while the New Year Party was meant to be a fount of joy for the community of Jackson, Wyoming, it ended in a confrontation that confirmed the fault lines that have grown between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the five years since Season One. Ellie might not know what Joel lied about, but that lie has slowly soured their relationship. But things are difficult for Jackson at the moment. It is the deep of winter, but the Infected have also been acting in different ways, and now you don’t know if you should be more concerned with things walking above or crawling below the snowline. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: Future Days – TV Review

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TL;DR – This first episode lets us catch up with the cast and world and catch our breath before the world turns.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

A group standing around some newly dug graves.

The Last of Us Review –

While the First Season of The Last of Us was a triumph, not just for Video Game adaptations but for adaptations in general, it was one of the rare works that fundamentally understood the source material, sometimes down to a shot-for-shot recreation. But also knew when some aspects needed to be refreshed or, in the case of Long Long Time, completely rewritten from the ground up. Yet, still, I came into Season Two with more than a bit of trepidation. The adaptation of the source material is going to require some hard choices, which is not going to be popular. I was there when it was released the first time and lived through that moment of ‘less than stellar’ online discourse. Yet still, I knew I had to sit down and watch, and here we are today.   

So, to set the scene, it has been five years since Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) walked away from the Firefly facility in Salt Lake City to return to Jackson. But the legacies of what Joel did, and very much lied about, live large in those who made it out of the massacre. Jackson is one of the rare places in the old America that has survived the Cordyceps Apocalypse without being under the thumb of FEDRA. But there are more than a few stragglers out there, and there are more people than construction can keep up with. Tensions remain everywhere, and the echoes of the lies we tell have started to reverberate. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Uncharted – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Well, Tom Holland’s charisma can only go so far in fixing this dull mess   

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Uncharted. Image Credit: Sony.

Uncharted Review –

Some memories stick with you as you grow up. For me, one of those memories is the family sitting around the tv watching my brother play Uncharted as we enjoyed the unfolding story and looked out for any hidden items. Given how successful and loved this video game franchise is, I am not alone with having attachments to this game, but I was also a little wary of disappointment walking into this film. The casting was a choice, and nothing around the marketing had imbued any confidence with the film, and I can now see why.

So to set the scene, we open with Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) getting kicked out of a cargo plane and then run over by a car. But fifteen years earlier, a young Nate (Tiernan Jones) and his brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) break into a museum to steal a map but are caught by guards. Sent back to the orphanage, Sam will be sent to jail, but he escapes leaving Nate behind. Currently, Nate is a bartender who pickpockets his clients when a strange man called Sully (Mark Wahlberg) walks into the bar and offers him a link to the past.  

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TV Review – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale

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TL;DR – It emphasises the ‘things that go bump in the night’ theme of the show, but also some of its get out of jail free cards, for a mixed result.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale. Image Credit: Netflix

A Christmas special is a time honoured tradition of many shows, indeed when I was growing up we would always get this great Christmas in July moment because TV took about 6 months to get down under back then. With that in mind, and with the more schlocky nature of the TV show so far, it felt like this would be the perfect fit for Sabrina. With a Christmas but not themed show. But while it hits all those notes, I was left feeling all a bit meh at the end of the day.

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TV Review – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season One

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TL;DR – Sabrina is a show that blends the occult with whimsy in a way I have not seen in a long while. It is a show where cannibalism and finding your one true love go hand in hand, and that is either going to interest you or put you right off.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Image Credit: Netflix

 

Review –

I do not envy the task of anyone who is given the job of rebooting something that has not one but two beloved incarnations. Whether it was the original comic or the 1990s TV series, a lot of people have grown up with Sabrina being a touchstone in pop culture. So, will bringing Sabrina to a new generation create that same moment, well only time will tell, but today we take a look at how the first season came together.

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