Tag Archives: TV

NCIS: Sydney – Extraction– TV Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly contrived episode, but with some surprising moments of fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

While this season of NCIS Sydney has been chiefly okay so far, last week’s Doggieccino Day Afternoon was the first time I was very concerned that they might not be able to pull this off. Thus, it is with some trepidation that start this episode about gym-bros and the things they keep in their back rooms.

So to set the scene, we open as a dude (Michael Jupp) is skulking around taking photos of chemical labels when he gets spooked. He tried to play it cool as he walked through the gym to the outside world, but he got rumbled and had to run. A couple of hits by a car and a slide down a hill later, he had almost escaped onto a bus when he falls to the floor dead, and we discover that the dude has an American Naval jacket. But more than that, it might be that one of the team knows our John Doe. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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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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TV Review – The Floor is Lava Season 1

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TL;DR – While not as binge-able as some of its competitors, it is still a bunch of fun with a ridiculous premise.  

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Floor is Lava. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

As a young person, I think everyone has played ‘The Floor is Lava‘ much to the castigation of our parents as that one fragile item becomes a casualty of the chaos. So it is almost surprising that someone has not tried to turn it into a competition show before, well now we get to see if it can work or if it is something best left to the imagination.

So to set the scene, three teams enter into a room full of lava (red coloured water) with a set of themed obstacles between the entrance and exit. We have a basement (museum), a bedroom, a planetarium, a study and a kitchen. There are multiple routes through the room, some harder than others with objects throughout that can make things easier. But it would be best if you were careful because one slip and you’re in the water, I mean lava, and the longer you take, the more the steps slip into the red making everything harder.

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Star Mort Rick Turn of the Jerri & Season 4

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TL;DR – Rick and Morty ends its fourth season on an interesting if odd note.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Rick and Morty: Star Mort Rick Turn of the Jerri. Image Credit: Adult Swim.

Review –

This has been a really interesting season with some stand out episodes like The Vat of Acid Episode and those that didn’t quite land like Childrick of Mort. However, now that we have reached the end of the season I wanted to take a moment to look back at both the final episode of the season with a title that you are sure a number of trademark lawyers were engaged to make sure they could use it, and also the season in general.

So to set the scene, back season three (goodness 2017 feels like a lifetime ago) in The ABC’s of Beth, Rick (Justin Roiland) and Beth’s (Sarah Chalke) relationship hit rock bottom and reached a point of no return. Rick offered Beth a choice where he could make a clone of her to live her life here while letting her go off on space adventures guilt free. Well fast forward to today and we discover that Rick did send Beth out on adventures and left a clone on Earth … maybe. Well that clone/or real Beth, it’s complicated, we’ll call her Space Beth to keep it simple, has been upsetting the New Galactic Federation. Which is about the time Space Beth discovered Rick put a bomb in her neck. So Space Beth comes back to Earth for some revenge, and maybe brings the whole Federation army with her. Now we will be looking at the episode/series as a whole and as such there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – Win the Wilderness

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TL;DR – This is a fascinating twist on the competition show format because it has real stakes that ground everything.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Win the Wilderness. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

I’ve watched a lot of competition shows in my time, everything from trapping people on an island and watching them pick each other off, to sitting and loving people building Lego constructions. However, it has been a long time since I have watched something new, well today we have just that with the joint Netflix/BBC show Win the Wilderness.  

So to set the scene, in the deep in the Alaskan wilderness is a house on Ose Mountain, it is far from the nearest town and can only be accessed by plane. Living on Ose Mountain are Duane and Rena who built the house with their bare hands. However, Duane and Rena are getting too old to be able to have the energy to maintain the property and it is time to give their legacy to someone else. So, six couples from the United Kingdom Matt and Rachel, Mark and Emily, Chris and Tina, Theo and Bee, Laura and Jerome, and Pete and Jane have flown into central Alaska with one thing on their minds, to prove that they can continue that legacy.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Admiral Peralta

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TL;DR – A fun family story but they may have picked the wrong story to focus on

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Admiral Peralta. Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

When you have a long-running show, changing up the dynamic can keep it fresh or be its downfall. This usually takes the form of the key relationship in the show, but not only did Brooklyn Nine-Nine let Amy (Melissa Fumero) and Jake’s (Andy Samberg) relationship develop naturally they have let it go through all the phases of life.

So to set the scene, at the weekly briefing Amy and Jake have an important announcement to make, they’re having a baby, which everyone already knew about. But with the thoughts of the coming bundle of joy come to the foreground, Jake starts thinking of the past and what his father Rodger (Bradley Whitford) refers to as the ‘Peralta Curse’ that is the terrible relationships that fathers have with their sons. Well there is only one way to fix that and that is to reunite a father with his son and that goes about as well as you expect. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Star Trek: Picard – Stardust City Rag

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TL;DR – This episode starts with a deeply emotional moment, then goes into high farce, and then back again without missing a beat.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

tar Trek: Picard – Stardust City Rag. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

There are moments in TV that you never knew you want right up until the moment they air and then you wonder why it is that you had not wished for that before. In today’s episode, we get that but also we get something I never wished to pass and it still pains me to think of it.

So to set the scene, we open in on the Seven Domes on the planet Vergessen in the Hypatia system … and well that is all I can really say without hitting spoilers so far it would make your head twist. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – Lost in Space: Season 2

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TL;DR – A really great continuation of the first season showing the strengths of this new interpretation at every turn

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Lost in Space: Season 2. Image Credit: Netflix

Review –

We are currently living through a second Golden Age for Science Fiction on TV and one of the first really cool examples of that was a new Lost in Space landing on our screens a couple of years ago. It was energetic, delightful, but also had some thematic weight behind it. Well, Season Two is upon us, so it’s time to see how well it did.    

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, the family Robinson, that is Maureen (Molly Parker), John (Toby Stephens), Will (Maxwell Jenkins), Judy (Taylor Russell), and Penny (Mina Sundwall) along with Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) and Dr Smith (Parker Posey) got launched through a warp portal by Robot (Brian Steele) to protect them. This leads them to land on a planet that is habitable, bar all the methane in the atmosphere. The warp drained most of the Jupiter 2’s power meaning they can breathe and stay warm but not a whole lot else. All of this changes when Maureen notices that there is a patch of lightning in the distance that comes so regularly that you can schedule it, and maybe a lighting jolt is just what the Jupiter 2 needs. Now as we go on there will be some [SPOILERS] as we will be looking at the season as a whole, so just be warned if you have not seen it yet.     

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Pimemento

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TL;DR –  A fun episode with a returning great guest star but a lacklustre b-plot

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Pimemento. Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

Like most half-an-hour comedy shows Brooklyn Nine-Nine usually has an A and a B plot that different character appears in and maybe come together in the end. However, sometimes one of the plot points just works so much better than the other that it can’t help but overshine it. Well, this might be the problem we have today.

So to set the scene, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) decided last week that they were not going to hold off having a baby and that they would start trying right away. Well, things are progressing but everything gets turned on its head when Pimemento (Jason Mantzoukas) burst into the precinct stating that someone is trying to kill him, but then he can’t remember more than 24 hours ago and that 24 hours is from 5 months in the past. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Captain Kim

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TL;DR –  An episode that looks to both the past and the future at the same time.   

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Captain Kim. Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

Well if there is one thing better than having a new episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, well it is having two new episodes back-to-back and today that is just what we get. We’ve already looked at Manhunter, so now let take some time to explore Captain Kim, both the character Captain Kim (Nicole Bilderback) but also the episode.

So, to set the scene, with Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) no longer a captain after his year-long demotion, the Nine-Nine needs a new captain and no one is really happy about that. Well, that’s not a problem, sure the captain is probably a spy planted there to make their lives a misery, but then they have dealt with this before … well, maybe not quite this before. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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