TL;DR – An episode that looks to both the past and the future at the same time.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
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.
TL;DR – A great welcome back and set up for the rest of the season
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review – Sometimes there is a joy in just getting to sit down with old friends and chat and laugh and enjoy your time together. Well occasionally you can have TV shows that can feel just the same way and for me, one of those shows is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Over the years there have been so many close calls, that any new episode is a moment of joy and today we get to look at the first episode of a seventh season, two more than I thought we would get.
So, to set the scene, in Sicko/Suicide Squad at the end of last season, the Nine-nine squad was successful in thwarting the evil police commissioner, but it came at a price. Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) had to step down as captain after letting slip that he never did his one-year mandatory time as a uniform beat-cop. All of a sudden, the power roles have been reversed and it is Jake (Andy Samberg) giving Holt the orders, and well that goes about as well as you expect it too. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This is one of the
strongest opening hours of TV I have seen in years, with the first few minutes affecting
me in ways I was not ready for.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
A pilot episode of television has a lot it has to do. It has to set the tone,
explain the setting, introduce you to the main characters, and find the drive
for the whole season. I have seen a lot of TV show pilots in my time and even
shows that are fantastic can fumble parts of this very important introduction.
Well, today I look at a show that nails every single element in its 50 minutes
run time.
So to set the scene, we open in on a tragedy where Alex Irving (Deborah Mailman)
is thrust into the national spotlight after a video goes viral. Alex shuns all
media request for interviews but she has caught the eye of someone important.
Soon there is a knock at the door and Jonathan (Harry Richardson) who works for
the Federal Government arrives at Alex and her mother Jan’s (Trisha
Morton-Thomas) house in Winton in country Queensland. He is there with an offer
for Alex to take over the seat of a Senator that has just died. She declines,
saying that if Prime Minister Rachel Anderson (Rachel Griffiths) wants her to
be a senator then she can come and ask herself, which is exactly what she does.
For here we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – It is the moment when
the loss and pain catch up with everyone.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
We continue our march to the final ever episode of The Good Place with a real threat looming over us. No one is
improving and time is not infinite. It is in these moments of pressure in the
past where the series has really excelled but will it work this time around.
So to set the scene, after our two-part season opener A
Girl from Arizona, things had started to move into place. But every
step forward was also a step back. They got rid of the demon in disguise, but
then Chidi (William Jackson Harper) got brought more into the fold at the
further expense of Eleanor’s (Kristen Bell) happiness. As well as this, after
some struggles Janet (D’Arcy Carden) decided to break up with Jason (Manny
Jacinto), leaving more of the group fractured. Just a reminder that we will be looking at the
episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – Was one of the more
interesting shows I have seen on Australian TV by being both a throwback to the
past and also something a little new
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
We took a look back at Les Norton’s
first episode You
Wouldn’t Be Dead For Quids, back when it first came out. Well, the
first season has just finished so I wanted to take a moment to look back at the
show and how well it did as a whole. A show about the 1980s, finding yourself
in over your head, and also just about the most aggressively Australian TV show
I have seen in a very long while.
So to set the scene, Les Norton (Alexander Bertrand) is a country boy from
Dirranbandi in south-west Queensland. He’s had to skip town after an incident where
a rival teammate was left fighting for his life with a head injury and he
needed to disappear before there was a riot. He needed to find some work to get
through his time in Sydney which is where he meets his guide and new friend
Billy Dunne (Hunter Page-Lochard) working as a doorman at a local club in Kings
Cross. The first 22 minutes of his shift is boring, but we come in at minute 23
and the fists start flying. The head of the club Price Galese (David Wenham)
likes what he sees and brings him into the fold and Les discovers a world
hidden out of sight, protected by the powerful, and who run on very different
rules where discretion is key.
TL;DR – This is and continues
to be the gold standard to adaptations of literature, capturing the heart of
the books, even if it does not hit every plot beat along the way.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
I mentioned back in my look at the New
Golden Age of Science Fiction that The Expanse is one of the best adaptations on TV at the moment. Here
in Australia, I got to watch the first two seasons on Netflix and was
constantly entranced with just what a good job they did of bringing James S. A.
Corey’s books to life. The third season has been tricky to find but today I was
able to hunt it down on Amazon and gave it a watch. Well, how does it do? Well,
I can tell you that I watched the entire first arc of the season in one
session, being so completely engrossed that I didn’t realise how late in the
evening it had gotten … so that it is always a good sign.
So to set the scene, we open in the aftermath of season two and the turn that
put Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) from a position of absolute power
to her running for her life after being betrayed by Sadavir Errinwright (Shawn
Doyle). Stuck on a ship that has just been fired upon by her own side there is
not much hope for escape but then that is why she brought Bobbie Draper (Frankie
Adams) a former Martian marine along. They manage to escape, but they are still
under pursuit, and while they were gone the whole solar system has erupted into
war and the Jupiter planetary system is ground zero for the conflict. Meanwhile,
on the Rocinante the crew are dealing
with two big problems, the fact that Naomi (Dominique Tipper) lied to them, and
they have done nothing really to help Prax (Terry Chen) find his daughter. With
everything falling apart the question is: will James Holden (Steven Strait) going
to step in and help stop this war, or is he going to sit back and let others
make the tough calls?
TL;DR – A great start to
propel the season forward.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, it is time for all good thing to come to an end, in this case today we
are looking at the beginning of the end as we explore the first episode of The Good Place’s fourth and final
season. As much as there is sadness, there is also a certain joy that at least
the show will get to go out on their own terms. Indeed, from what everyone has
said it was a creative decision to end the show at this point and I will always
respect that. Well let’s dive into the weird and quirky world of the ever
after.
So to set the scene, in the Season Three finale Pandemonium,
The Judge (Maya Rudolph) gave everyone a chance to show that the point system
is broken by creating a new neighbourhood to test it out with new people.
However, The Bad Place, devious as ever, did not pick the worst people in the
world, just the worst people for the team, including Chidi’s (William Jackson
Harper) ex Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Knowing that he could not remain
impartial Chidi has his mind wiped of everything including his love for Eleanor
(Kristen Bell). Now they have one chance to show that everything is wrong and
it is not going to be easy. Just a reminder that we will be looking at the
episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting concept, with some powerful performances, but I am not sure three episodes
was enough time to really show it off.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Netflix as the premier multi-national streaming juggernaut (for the time being)
has been doing a lot of experimenting in recent years. With Black
Mirror: Bandersnatch they gave the world a choose your own adventure in
cinematic form and with Ultimate
Beastmaster they produced different versions for each of the countries
participating. Well today we get to take a look at the next experiment with
Criminal a series that produced four different versions for France, Germany,
Spain, and the UK. Well today we are going to take a look at the UK version to
see how this experiment works out.
To set the scene, we open in on DI Natalie Hobbs’ (Katherine Kelly) team as
they begin an interview with the suspect of a murder. For you see her team are experts
in interrogation, so they are used when there is a time crunch or a serious
case that needs their attention. The first of these involves a doctor (David
Tennant) that is accused of molesting and then murdering his step-daughter. The
interview has been going for hours and time is running out because if they can’t
find some way to get him to crack he could walk free. Now from here, we will be
looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting take on the End-Of-The-World genre
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I say to you Zombie Apocalypse, I think for many people the first thing
you would do is suppress a sigh. As a genre, it has been used multiple times
and these days one could say that it has been done to death as long as they immediately
followed it up immediately with ‘pun not attended’. However, every now and again,
a new show will use the setting to explore something new and today we get to
look at just such a show.
So to set the scene, we open in on Day 42 with Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard)
the only known survivor in his town. 42 Days ago portals opened up over his
town and monsters and zombies came flooding out attacking the town. Some escaped,
some were rescued, but more still were turned into zombies to roam the streets.
Abandoned by his foster family, Jack survives by hiding in his foster brother’s
treehouse and using that as a base of operation. He is trying to find his best
buddy Quint (Garland Whitt) and rescue his flame June (Montse Hernandez), but
first he needs to survive being hunted by a monster angry because Jack poked
its eye out.
TL;DR – This is really a slow
burn but then it grabs you as all the different parts start to merge together
and you discover what is behind The Island and the number 39.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
One of my great joys is watching the TV Show Survivor where they throw a bunch of random people on an island and
subject them to the elements and every puzzle under the Sun. It is such an
interesting scenario, that I am surprised that we don’t see more people take
advantage of it narratively. Well, today we get to look at a show that does
just that, exploring a world where you can trust nothing and no one, not even
what you can see with your own two eyes.
So to set the scene, one morning you wake up, but you are not at home in your
bed, you are on a beach lying in the sand with waves crashing into you. To add
to this you cannot remember how you got there, or even who you are. As Chase (Natalie
Martinez) tries to get her bearings she stumbles across KC (Kate Bosworth) and
discovers that she is not alone. There are ten of them and no one can remember
anything bar waking up on the beach. As they try to find something of their
past lives, the reality of their situation dawns and soon the power politics
show their heads and worse. Now from here, we will be looking at the season
as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 