TV Review – Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

TL;DR – A moment to catch our breath before the onslaught is unleashed.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Image Credit: HBO.

Review

You know, Game of Thrones is known for its sweeping storylines that explore events happening across continents. However, there are times in the show’s history where a bunch of main and supporting cast find themselves in the one location, and if you know anything about the history of the show, that is never a good thing. Well today, we look at an episode that is the calm before the coming storm, when everything is still but you can see the dark clouds and cracking lighting on the horizon.  

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s Winterfell a number of big plot bombs got dropped on us. There was the big news of John (Kit Harington) finally finding out who his real mother and father from Samwell (John Bradley). There was the growing sense that The North is not fond of being under anyone’s rule again. After fleeing from the destruction of The Wall in The Dragon and the Wolf Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) comes across the dead ruins of the Last Hearth and also finds the survivors of The Night’s Watch where they discover that the dead are on the move and heading straight for the Capital of the North. In the final shot, Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) arrives in Winterfell only to find Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) waiting for him, and this is where today’s episode starts off. Jamie is fighting for his life after pretty much betraying, or being at war at some point with everyone in the room. With only Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), who no one cares about in this case, and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) who people do care about, standing for him. However, while revenge would be nice, the dead are coming and they need every sword. 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 – Lunatics Season One

TL;DR – This is a show that wildly oscillates from being deeply offensive to just plain dull  

Score – 1 out of 5 stars

Lunatics Season One. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review

Before we get into this review, let me take you back 14 years ago to 2005, this was when We Can Be Heroes first aired down here in Australia. It was a revolutionary comedy for many, as it satirised people that you thought you all knew. Also having one actor play multiple different parts was a novel concept … at the time. Chris Lilley won multiple awards for the show and it put him in the limelight which he followed up with the equally successful Summer Heights High two years later. Why am I opening with this, well I wanted to give it a bit of history for non-Australian readers, and I wanted to give a bit of context before we fall into the rubbish that is this series.

So to set the scene, Lunatics is based around the lives of several characters (all played by Lilley). There is Jana a lesbian pet psychic based in South Africa, Gavin a brat that somehow going to be an Earl, Joyce a former adult movie star, Keith a long time retail worker that is opening his own store, Becky a tall twin starting her first day at an American college, and Quentin a real-estate agent from the Gold Coast. The series explores their lives as they all move into their next stages of life. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Orville: Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow

TL;DR – We look to the past and find out how much we have changed, the show included

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow. Image Credit: Fox.

Review

Time travel, oy vey, nothing quite gives me a headache like a temporal mechanics headache and today we are looking a doozy of one. Now, of course, this is not the first time that The Orville has dabbled in the world of time travel with Pria happening all the way back in Season One, which also set up some stuff that the show has yet to quite follow through with. However, today’s temporal jump is a much more personal affair.

So to set the scene, we open with Ed (Seth MacFarlane), Kelly (Adrianne Palicki), Talla (Jessica Szohr), and Gordon (Scott Grimes) sharing a drink and reminiscing about the past. Talking about the past has Ed reminiscing about lost loves but Kelly makes it clear that it would not be good for the ship or them if they repeated the past. The next day Isaac (Mark Jackson) and John (J. Lee) are showing Kelly a potential new temporal device when the ship is hit by a massive gravity wave. Not only does the damage the ship but it interacts with the device and all of a sudden a Kelly from seven years ago is standing in the science lab. 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 – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Bimbo

TL;DR – A fun episode that lets us have some great character moments and shift the dynamics of the cast a little

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Bimbo. Image Credit: NBC.

Review

As we continue along this surprise extra season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, we have had big episodes, we have had funny episodes, we have had dramatic episodes. Well, today what we get is a smaller affair, but it takes a moment to use that contained nature to develop relationships more.

So to set the scene, Jake (Andy Samberg) arrives late to the briefing and gets punished in the cruellest way, okay that is just the cold open. We actually start with Keven (Marc Evan Jackson) leaving Holt’s (Andre Braugher) office and them sharing a public handshake before leaving. However, Kevin is not going straight to work because he needs to have a quiet word with Jake. For you see, a number of important coins had gone missing in the office that he works in, and he can’t go straight to Holt because Holt can become a bit out of place when there is a case where Kevin is involved. So they plan to do the case in secret, and that goes about as well as you can expect. 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: Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2 and Season 2

TL;DR – An episode filled with emotional moments and big changes

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review

As I sit here after watching the final episode of Season Two of Star Trek Discovery, I am feeling a lot of emotions. On the one part, there was nothing too surprising that happened in the episode if you had been paying attention so far this season. However, it was also an episode with emotional moments that hit you in the gut.

So to set the scene, we begin where Part 1 ended up, with the captured Section 31 Fleet let by Leland/Control (Alan van Sprang) surrounding the USS Enterprise and the USS Discovery. Leland/Control has one want, to get the Sphere data found on the Discovery, and everyone has one hope to let Michael open a time wormhole to the future, so the ship can fly out of reach of control. Everyone is working to get the Time Travel Suit ready, charging the time crystal, and preparing for an onslaught. However, no matter what they were preparing for nothing they could do could get them ready for what is about to happen. 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: Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1

TL;DR – An episode filled with goodbyes and also beauty

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review


It is so close to the end and you can really feel it as each episode ratchets up the tension and leaves you aghast when the credits role lamenting that you can’t just watch the next episode then and there. Well, today we are exploring the penultimate episode of Star Trek Discovery’s second season, an episode of goodbyes and of also of real beauty.   

So to set the scene, we begin today right where last week’s Through the Valley of Shadows left off. After trying literally everything to stop Control getting the Sphere data and with Leland/Control’s (Alan van Sprang) armada closing in there is only one thing left to do, destroy the Discovery. With subspace communications being blocked, Pike (Anson Mount) puts out a call of someone he knows he can trust and soon the Enterprise and his Number One (Rebecca Romijn) have arrived to evacuate all the crew. Only then to discover that things never quite go to plan. 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 – Game of Thrones: Winterfell

TL;DR – In the first episode of the final season all the characters are moved into place, before the onslaught of the coming doom.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Game of Thrones: Winterfell. Image Credit: HBO.

Review

And so it begins. When that first episode aired back in 2011 everything was different, and it changed the television landscape in a way we are still feeling today. It is with this that I come to the final season with a little trepidation. I don’t know how the show will end, but I know a lot of the characters that we have come to love over the years probably won’t make it and if any show has prepared us for an unhappy ending, this is it. Well, today we delve into the first episode of the final season as the growing disaster looms.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Dragon and the Wolf all hell broke loose as the big bad used Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) reanimated dragon to blow a hole in The Wall allowing the undead to march through. As we prepare for what is about to hit, armies are moving into place as John Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys arrive in Winterfell with their Unsullied and Dothraki armies … oh and two dragons. Word has reached Winterfell of The Wall’s fall, so Sansa (Sophie Turner) has ordered all of her bannermen to retreat to the capital as the last stand because that is where all the armies, even the coming Lannister’s will go to, but then Cersei (Lena Headey) has other ideas. 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 – The Orville: Sanctuary

TL;DR – If we don’t defend those who need defence why should we save ourselves.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Sanctuary. Image Credit: Fox.

Review


In the background of The Orville has been a growing problem for the Interstellar Union, and no that is not an external threat, but an internal dilemma. For a long time, there has been a growing unease with Moclus and parts of their culture that seem to go against what the Union stands for. This week this issue comes to a head when the very nature of the Union is called into question by Dolly Parton, sort of.

So to set the scene, after the destruction of a large chunk of the fleet in Identity Part 2, the Interstellar Union is trying to bring more ships online and upgrade the weapons of those ships they already have. The USS Orville is sent to Moclus to get the upgrade and also taxi some engineers to a scout ship, much to everyone’s annoyance. However, the engineers are carrying more than just supplies with them, which puts Bortus (Peter Macon) in a difficult position having to choose his own people over the crew. 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 – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Casecation

TL;DR – A heartfelt story of love … in a hospital room … while they wait for a comatose patent to wake up   

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Casecation. Image Credit: NBC Studios.

Review

One of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s strengths has always been its ability to juggle the comedy and drama. This is not an easy task as it can be a tightrope trying to balance everything without it coming off as half-assed. This week we get an episode that gets that balance right as it jumps from fun to real serious, real quick.

So to set the scene, we open in a hospital as Amy (Melissa Fumero) comes to meet Jake (Andy Samberg), thankfully he is not here on medical business but for the police as there is a mob boss that survived a hit and is now in a coma. The hope is that if Jake is there when he wakes up then the mob boss will give them the info they could use. However, Jake has an ulterior motive, because there is no idea when he will wake up, so he and Amy could share some time alone as it is there anniversary and with their work schedule this is the best chance they have. A case vacation or indeed a Casecation. Which is fine until a topic comes up that neither of them were prepared to hear the other’s response. 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 – Black Summer: Season One

TL;DR – There are moments of real tension but in the end, it fell a bit flat.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Black Summer: Season One. Image Credit; Netflix.

Review

Zombies are a concept that and yes I am going to go there, has been done to death. There have been so many different permeations of the living dead and the impact that they would have on the world it is hard to come into this space and have anything new to say. Well, today we take a look at a show that is trying to find some new space, even if it does not always succeed.

So to set the scene, it has been a couple of weeks since the first infection and society is in the state of collapse. There is still hope that the government can contain the spread of the zombies as fighter jets fly overhead and the military is still working on evacuations. We meet Rose (Jaime King) as she is trying to get her family to the evacuation point so they can be taken to the stadium and airlifted out to safety. Well, all of that falls apart as the soldiers discovered her husband’s wounds and drive off with their daughter leaving them behind. All the commotion draws the zombies from nearby and soon those who are left like Kyungson (Christine Lee), Lance (Kelsey Flower), and Ryan (Mustafa Alabssi) have to flee as chaos breaks out. Broken into groups everyone tries to make it to the safety of the stadium. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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